Battle of Cape Rachado

The Battle of Cape Rachado, off the present day Malaccan exclave of Tanjung Tuan in 1606, was an important naval engagement between the Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie and Portuguese fleets.

It marked the beginning of a conflict between the combined Dutch/Johor forces against the Portuguese. It was the biggest naval battle in the Malay Archipelago between two naval superpowers of the time with 31 ships (11 of the Dutch VOC and 20 of the Portuguese). Although the battle ended with a Portuguese victory, the ferocity of the battle itself and the losses sustained by the victor convinced the Sultanate of Johor to provide supplies, support and later on much needed ground forces to the Dutch, forcing a Portuguese capitulation. 130 years of Portuguese supremacy in the region ended with the fall of the city and fortress of Malacca, almost 30 years later, in 1641.

Departure and alliance with Johor

Malacca, which was earlier the capital of the Sultanate of Malacca, was sieged and wrested by the Portuguese in 1511, forcing the Sultan to retreat and found the successor state of Johor and continue the war from there. The port city, which the Portuguese had turned into a formidable fortress, was strategically situated in the middle of the strait of the same name giving control to both the spice trade of the Malay archipelago and supremacy over the sea lane of the lucrative trade between Europe and the Far East. The Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) decided that to expand further to the east, the Portuguese monopoly and especially Malacca must first be neutralized.

The fleet was the third sent by the VOC to the archipelago, with 11 ships - "Oranje, Nassau, Middelburg, Witte Leeuw, Zwarte Leeuw, Mauritius, Grote Zon, Amsterdam, Kleine Zon, Erasmus" and "Geuniveerde Provincien". The "Oranje" lead with Admiral Cornelis Matelief de Jonge in command. The Dutch fleet set sail from Texel, Holland on 12 May 1605. The fleet departed with the sailors told that they were on a trade voyage as de Jonge was ordered to keep his true mission a secret, which was to siege Malacca and force a Portuguese surrender.

They passed Malacca on April 1606 and arrived at Johore on 1 May 1606 where de Jonge proceeded to negotiate for a term of alliance with Johor. The pact was formally concluded on 17 May 1606 in which Johor had agreed to a combined effort with the Dutch to attempt to dislodge the Portuguese from Malacca. Unlike the intolerant Portuguese, the Dutch and Johor agreed to respect each others religion, the Dutch will get to keep Malacca and the right to trade in Johor. The Dutch also will not attempt to interfere or wage war against Johor, in effect the agreement limited Dutch influence in the Malay Peninsula in contrast to the other part of the archipelago which would become the Dutch East Indies.

The Dutch fleet

The Portuguese fleet

The battle

Matelief de Jonge starts the assault by sieging the fortress and city of Malacca. He was hoping that by blockading and cutting the supplies to the Portuguese, prolong hunger and direct assault will forced them to capitulate. However, this was not so, as their Johor ally were still unsure of the ability of the Dutch forces against Malacca and did not fully commit their resources to the attack, other than limited supplies and safe haven at their ports. The Dutch with only small amount of soldiers could not afford a land offensive against their well-entrenched opponent.

The Dutch maintained the siege for a time and the situation started to get worse for the Portuguese until 14 August 1606 when a Portuguese fleet from Goa arrived. Led by the Viceroy of Goa, Dom Martim Afonso de Castro, the siege was lifted when the 20-odd ships began to engage the VOC fleet off the Malaccan waters. The two fleets traded cannon fire and the Portuguese ships began to move northward drawing the Dutch away from Malacca. On 16 August 1606, off the Portuguese lighthouse at Cape Rachado, the battle between the two fleets reached its peak.

Heavy cannons salvoes opened the battle which each side trying to weaken the opponent before the ships closes on each other and the battle had to be fought hand-to-hand. In one of the skirmishes in the battle, the VOC ship "Nassau" was boarded by the Portuguese ship "Santa Cruz", Matelief de Jonge attempted to assist "Nassau" with his ship the Oranje but end up colliding with the Middelburg amidst the chaos of the battle. Seizing the opportunity, the Portuguese ships "São Salvador" and a galleon commanded by Dom Duarte de Guerra attempted to board the two entangled VOC ships. "Oranje" managed to set herself free and went on to engage another Portuguese ship. "Middelburg", "São Salvador" and Dom Duarte de Guerra's galleon were lost, caught fire and later sunk still grappled together.

On "Nassau", "Conceição" joined "Santa Cruz" and despite the efforts of "Mauritius" and "Zwarte Leeuw", the Portuguese boarded and set "Nassau" on fire. "Nassau"'s stern exploded and was burnt to the water line.

After days of fighting, Matelief de Jonge deemed that the losses suffered was too much and ordered the Dutch fleet to disengage and abandoned the fight. The battle was won by the Portuguese, but the failed Dutch attack marked the beginning of a serious threat to their dominance in the archipelago, which culminated in a massive Dutch-Johor-Acheh assault 30 years after which broke the gates and mights of the fortress of Malacca.

Aftermath

The Dutch requested shelter from Johor and arrived at Johor River on 19 August 1606. Overall the Dutch lost "Nassau" and "Middelburg". 150 Dutch were lost and more wounded, Johor alies losses amount to several hundred. The Portuguese lost "São Salvador" and Dom Duarte de Guerra's smaller galleon while suffering 500 deaths (Portuguese and alies). The battle also proved the tenacity of the Dutch in their war against the Portuguese, which caused the Sultan of Johor to fully commit on providing the much needed armies and additional ships and resources.

hipwrecks and excavation

All of the four ships lost at Cape Rachado has been found and recovered in 1995 under the supervision of Mensun Bound from Oxford University. "Nassau" has been found about 8 nautical mile off the modern town of Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan. The wreck was found with 15 cannons, cannonballs, ropes and wooden barrels with animal bones, coins and a Chinese jar. The wreckage of "Middelburg", "São Salvador" and Dom Duarte de Guerra's galleon were found 0.7 nautical mile away from "Nassau".

Some of the retrieved artifacts from "Nassau" are on display at the Lukut Museum in the town of Port Dickson.

"Mauritius" left the Strait of Malacca on 27 December 1607 and sank on 19 March 1609 off the Cape Lopes Gonçalves, Gabon. The wreckage was found in 1985. Witte Leeuw met his doom of the shores of St. Helena when he and 3 other VOCs ships surprised 2 Portuguese Caravels anchored in the bay, as they approached the Portuguese recovered initiative and started a cannonade that sent Witte Leeuw to the bottom of the sea with all hands on board. Another VOC ship managed to escape severely damaged but sunk a few days later.

References

*cite book|last=De Witt|first=Dennis|title=History of the Dutch in Malaysia|location=Malaysia|publisher=Nutmeg Publishing|year=2007|isbn=9789834351908