A British squadron of four frigates under the command of Captain James Alms was patrolling the entrance to the Skagerrak in August 1795 when three sails were spotted off the Norwegian coast to the north.

The remainder of the Batavian squadron escaped due to a fierce rearguard action by the frigate Argo, reaching the safety of the Dano-Norwegian harbour at Eigerøya.

On the afternoon of 22 August 1795 the Batavian force was sailing southeast along the Norwegian coast, then part of Denmark-Norway, tacking to port towards the land, when the British squadron was spotted approaching from the south.

[6] With their ships heavily outnumbered by the approaching British, the Batavian squadron made all sail along the coastline with the intention of sheltering in the neutral Dano-Norwegian harbour of Eigerøya.

Soon the fastest British ship, Stag made use of favourable wind to pull ahead of the others and at 16:15 succeeded in cutting off the rearmost Batavian vessel Alliantie from its companions.

This, coupled with the presence nearby of the rest of the British squadron meant that Alliantie, in the words of naval historian William James, "from the first, had no chance of success.

On 3 September, the Provisional Representatives of the People of Holland issued a resolution ordering the Dutch envoy in Copenhagen, Christiaan Bangeman Huygens, to lodge a complaint over Alm's alleged violation of Dano-Norwegian neutrality.

[16][17] Admiral Jan Willem de Winter, the Batavian Navy's commander-in-chief, issued a proclamation after the battle praising the conduct of van Dirckinck's ships and censuring the British.

The proclamation also noted that Argo suffered two killed and 15 injured during the battle and claimed that the Batavian brigs Echo, Gier and Mercuur stopped four British merchantmen and brought them into Kristiansand on 22 August in reprisal.

[19] On 19 September, Huygens wrote to the Provisional Representatives, confirming that the Dano-Norwegian government had made diplomatic overtures to the British, which proved to be pointless, as Britain had already declared war on the Batavian Republic four days earlier.