Minor naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought between a British Royal Navy frigate and two ships of the Batavian Navy
This engagement ended the last continental attempt to land troops in Ireland during the 1798 rebellion, marking the final action of that conflict.
Key Facts
- Date
- 24 October 1798
- Distance from Texel
- 30 nautical miles (56 km) northwest
- British vessel
- HMS Sirius (frigate)
- Dutch vessels captured
- Waakzaamheid and Furie
- Time to capture Waakzaamheid
- approximately 1 hour
- Time to capture Furie
- approximately 30 minutes
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 prompted France and its ally the Batavian Republic to send military reinforcements to Ireland. Unaware that the rebellion had already been defeated a month earlier, the Dutch dispatched two ships carrying French soldiers and military supplies to supplement a larger French squadron sent earlier in October, which had itself been defeated at the Battle of Tory Island.
On 24 October 1798, HMS Sirius under Captain Richard King intercepted the Batavian vessels Waakzaamheid and Furie in the North Sea shortly after they left port. King exploited the two-mile separation between the ships, capturing Waakzaamheid without a fight within an hour, then overhauling Furie and forcing her surrender after a brief, one-sided exchange of fire lasting under thirty minutes.
Both captured Dutch ships were taken to Britain, repaired, and commissioned into the Royal Navy. The action ended the final effort by continental powers to land troops in Ireland during the 1798 rebellion, and it marked the last engagement of that rebellion. The defeat underscored the futility of the Franco-Dutch intervention, which had been based on outdated intelligence about the rebellion's status.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Captain Richard King.
Side B
1 belligerent