Expedition to Gamrange (1783)

Expedition to Gamrange (1783)
Part of Nuku Rebellion
Date 25 May–28 September 1783 Location Gamrange and Raja Ampat Result Tidore victory
Belligerents
Dutch East Indies Sultanate of Ternate	Tidore Sultanate Papuan pirates
Commanders and leaders
Coenraad Van Dijk  †	Nuku of Tidore
Strength
Hundreds of ships and thousands of soldiers	Hundreds of troops
Casualties and losses
Entire force was killed including commander Weapons and ships were captured by rebels 200 Ternateans captured	Light casualties

Expedition to Gamrange (1783) was a military expedition by the Dutch government in Ternate to suppress the Nuku rebels and crackdown on the Papuan pirates in Raja Ampat. However, the expedition failed and the entire Dutch force was killed, including the commander.

Background

To suppress the revolt, the Dutch launched the military expedition to Gamrange and Raja Ampat. The leader of this expedition was Admiral Coenraad Van Dijk, and he targeted Gamrange Island and Raja Ampat Island. They arrived on 25 May 1783.

Expedition

They landed in Gamrange in September and Raja Ampat in August. The native Papuans welcomed them, which gave them hope of collaborating to defeat the rebels. But in late September, they received news about a traitor in the expedition who caused the entire Dutch force to be killed, including the commander, by the traitors and rebels. The situation was worsened by information that the artillery and ships were captured by the rebels, and Kapiten Hairun, who had been raised by the VOC, left the VOC and joined rebel forces. At least 200 Ternate people were captured.

References

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