Battle of Langat River explained

Conflict:Battle of Langat River
Partof:Acehnese-Portuguese conflicts
Date:1628
Place:Langat River, Malay Peninsula
Result:Portuguese victory
Combatant1:Portuguese Empire
Combatant2:Aceh Sultanate
Commander1: Dom Francisco Coutinho
Commander2:Unknown
Strength1:15 half-galleys.
Strength2:100 ships
  • 35 galleys
Casualties1:Few
Casualties2:99 vessels
3000 men
800 guns[1]

The Battle of Langat River was an armed encounter between a fleet of the Portuguese Empire and the Sultanate of Aceh, within the Langat River in the Malay peninsula in 1628. The Portuguese were victorious.

The battle

Sometime after late May or early June, Portuguese command at Malacca received reports that an Acehnese armada had been spotted within the Langat River. Anticipating that the Acehnese intended to attack the city, the captain of Malacca Gaspar de Melo de Sampaio tasked Dom Francisco Coutinho to seek out the fleet and destroy it, with 15 half-galleys.

The Portuguese found the Acehnese ships heavily fortified by the banks of Langat River. Nevertheless, Coutinho moved his oarships into the river and after firing a salvo of artillery and muskety grappled and boarded the Acehnese vessels closest of the mouth of the river. At the end of a stiff struggle, having suffered heavy losses, the Acehnese lost or abandoned almost all of their ships, 3000 men killed, captured or missing, and 800 guns captured by the Portuguese.[1] [2]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Frederick Charles Danvers, The Portuguese in India volume II, W. H. Allen & Co. Limited, 1894, p. 226
  2. Saturnino Monteiro: Batalhas e Combates da Marinha Portuguesa 1139-1975, volume VI, 1995, Livraria Sá da Costa Editora, p. 24.