In 1810 the government of the Qing Dynasty issued a pardon to all pirates operating in China, thousands accepted and joined the Qing navy which began the decline of piracy in the Far East. However, though many pirates chose to give up their criminal ways, thousands continued pirating along the southern Chinese coast. The pirates used war-junks and occasionally other vessels as well. Several different pirate groups were active in this time and they usually operated in mass against merchant vessels. By 1847 the Royal Navy began to take more serious measures against the pirates. They had already engaged the Chinese brigands in combat as early as 1839 and it took until the late 1860s to finally put an end to fleets of pirate junks but even then piracy continued in China but was done so in a di
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| - In 1810 the government of the Qing Dynasty issued a pardon to all pirates operating in China, thousands accepted and joined the Qing navy which began the decline of piracy in the Far East. However, though many pirates chose to give up their criminal ways, thousands continued pirating along the southern Chinese coast. The pirates used war-junks and occasionally other vessels as well. Several different pirate groups were active in this time and they usually operated in mass against merchant vessels. By 1847 the Royal Navy began to take more serious measures against the pirates. They had already engaged the Chinese brigands in combat as early as 1839 and it took until the late 1860s to finally put an end to fleets of pirate junks but even then piracy continued in China but was done so in a di
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| Strength
| - 1(xsd:integer)
- 2(xsd:integer)
- 8(xsd:integer)
- 64(xsd:integer)
- Land:
- Sea:
- unknown land forces
- ~1,400 pirates
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| dbkwik:military/pr...iPageUsesTemplate
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| Date
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| Commander
| - 23(xsd:integer)
- Admiral Wong
- John C. Hay
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| Caption
| - The destruction of Shap Ng tsai's fleet.
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| Casualties
| - 1(xsd:integer)
- 2(xsd:integer)
- 58(xsd:integer)
- none
- unknown
- British:
- ~300 captured
- Chinese:
- Vietnamese:
- ~2,400 killed or wounded
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| Result
| - British/Chinese/Tonkinese victory
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| combatant
| - 23(xsd:integer)
- United Kingdom
- Qing Dynasty
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| Place
| - near Hai Phong, Tonkin River, Vietnam
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| Conflict
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| abstract
| - In 1810 the government of the Qing Dynasty issued a pardon to all pirates operating in China, thousands accepted and joined the Qing navy which began the decline of piracy in the Far East. However, though many pirates chose to give up their criminal ways, thousands continued pirating along the southern Chinese coast. The pirates used war-junks and occasionally other vessels as well. Several different pirate groups were active in this time and they usually operated in mass against merchant vessels. By 1847 the Royal Navy began to take more serious measures against the pirates. They had already engaged the Chinese brigands in combat as early as 1839 and it took until the late 1860s to finally put an end to fleets of pirate junks but even then piracy continued in China but was done so in a different way as new steam vessels meant a change in tactics. Pirates of Shap Ng-tsai Shap Ng-tsai was one Chinese pirate commander who attacked merchant ships in the mid 19th century. He commanded a fleet of around seventy junks working out of Tienpak. They varied in size and later the British commander of the battle, John Charles Dalrymple Hay, divided them into classes. Of the sixty-four he encountered at Tonkin River, the single largest junk carried forty-two guns of different poundage with a crew of 140. The second class of which there were sixteen of mounted twenty-eight to thirty-four guns and had crews of seventy-five men. The third class was smaller with twelve to nineteen guns and forty man crews, Hay counted forty-two of these vessels. There was five junks of the fourth class which were armed with six guns and had a complement of thirty pirates each. Most of the guns were reportedly long 18-pounders which were used regularly by Chinese pirates at the time. In total Commander Hay estimated that his squadron faced 1,224 enemy guns and 3,190 pirates including their leader Shap Ng-tsai who captained the junk of the first class and used her as his flagship. Expedition to Tonkin After Shap Ng-tsai's sinking an American and two British merchant ships in spring of 1849, the British organized a squadron of three vessels to search out and destroy the pirates. They were the brig HMS Columbine, the sloop-of-war HMS Fury and the East India Company sloop HMS Phlegethon, each mounting twelve to eighteen guns and with crews of around 100 men. An unspecified number of Royal Marines also participated along with boats and sailors from HMS Hastings. Phelegethon was John Hay's flagship and was used to tow the Columbine through shallow water. Sailing from Hong Kong on October 8, of 1849, Commander Hay headed south along the Chinese coast for Concock where he began his search and after sailing through several ports without finding the pirates, he decided to go to Hoi-How where he met with the governor general of the province. On October 13 the governor general ordered an admiral named Wong to command a force of eight small junks which accompanied Hay's expedition. The fleet of one brig, two sloops and eight heavily armed junks then continued south for Chooshan, there on October 16 they found the town burned and many dead Chinese. Upon investigation the expedition learnt that the pirates had left five days before on October 11 and had killed many men and taken several women. From there they headed for Hoonong and on October 18 they encountered a lookout vessel of Shap Ng-tsai's fleet. Phlegethon chased her down and men in her boats destroyed the craft. On October 19, the expedition arrived at Hoonong and discovered that the pirates were at anchor twelve miles further near Chokeum in the Gulf of Tonkin. Arriving in the area on October 20, Hay decided first to complete a reconnaissance with the Phlegethon and a few boats, during which they sighted thirty-seven junks in group sailing southwest in Junk Passage for the mouth of the Tonkin river. Hay regrouped with his ships while the pirate junks searched from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm for the river's opening. When they found it, the Chinese entered, so Hay made plans for passing the bar.
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