Bombardment of Algiers

27 August 1816, Algiers

Anglo-Dutch victory; the Algerian fleet destroyed and the Christian slaves freed

Algiers was one of the most strongly fortified ports in the world, with over 500 guns in its batteries. Exmouth had studied them closely and planned to bring his ships in very close, where many of the Algerian guns could not bear. After the Dey ignored his ultimatum, the fleet stood in on the afternoon of 27 August, and Queen Charlotte anchored within fifty yards of the mole head without a shot being fired from either side. When the batteries opened fire, the whole fleet replied; the Dutch squadron engaged the batteries to the south. The bombardment lasted nine hours, until the ships had almost run out of ammunition. Boats and an explosion vessel set the Algerian frigates and gunboats in the harbour on fire, and the burning ships drifted dangerously among the fleet. Most of the batteries were wrecked and the fleet destroyed, at a cost of 128 British and 13 Dutch killed and over 700 wounded, one of the highest casualty rates of any battle of the period. The next day the Dey accepted Exmouth's terms, and over a thousand Christian slaves were freed.