User:Ykraps/British invasion of Surinam (1804)

The British invasion of Surinam took place in 1804, during the Napoleonic Wars.

Preparations
The invasion force left Barbados on 3 April and comprised Commodore Samuel Hood's flagship HMS Centaur (1797), HMS Emerald (1795), the 44-gun heavy frigates Pandour and HMS Serapis (1782), the 28-gun sixth-rate HMS Alligator (1787), the 12-gun schooner HMS Unique (1804), the 12-gun corvette HMS Hippomenes (1803), and the 8-gun Drake, together with 2,000 troops under Brigadier-General Sir Charles Green.

Invasion
The expedition arrived off Surinam on 25 April after a twenty-two-day journey. The sloop Hippomenes, a transport and a further three armed vessels, landed Brigadier-General Frederick Maitland and 700 troops at Warapee Creek on the night of 30 April. The following night, O'Bryen was ordered to assist Brigadier-General Hughes in the taking of Braam's Point. A sandbar initially prevented Emerald from entering the Surinam River but O'Bryen forced her across on the rising tide, with Pandour and Drake following. Anchoring close by, the three British ships quickly put the Dutch battery of 18-pounders out of action and captured the fort without loss of life.