Surviving crewmembers from both ships—primarily Indian camp followers and lascars—were captured by Chinese forces and marched south to the prefectural capital of Taiwan, where they were imprisoned in a granary before being beheaded in August.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the British East India Company (EIC) viewed Taiwan as a viable location for a trading post, as the island had abundant amounts of natural resources.

The ship, which was supplied with provisions, lay in smooth water in Keelung bay for five days, during which the remaining crew prepared rafts.

In attempting to land, some drowned in the surf, others were killed by local scavengers on the shore and the rest were captured by Chinese authorities, who separated them into small parties and marched them to the prefectural capital of Taiwan.

[5][7] Two senior Chinese officials, brigade general Dahonga (達洪阿) and intendant Yao Ying (姚瑩), subsequently filed an inaccurate report to the Daoguang Emperor, claiming to have sunk Nerbudda from the Keelung fort while defending it against a naval attack on 30 September, killing 32 enemies and capturing 133.

[10][13][14] From 19 to 27 October 1841, the Royal Navy sloop HMS Nimrod sailed to Keelung and offered 100 dollars for the return of each survivor of Nerbudda.

However, after finding out they were sent south for imprisonment, the commander of Nimrod, Captain Joseph Pearse, ordered the bombardment of the harbour, destroying 27 cannon before returning to Hong Kong.

It is possible, depending on the credibility of contemporary newspaper reports, that Chinese authorities in Taiwan largely spared European survivors, instead focusing their executions on Indian prisoners.

The remaining rebellious barbarians and the 130-odd[b] that were captured last year shall all be immediately executed in order to release our anger and enliven our hearts.

Their execution was reported in The Chinese Repository: All the rest—one hundred and ninety-seven [prisoners]—were placed at small distances from each other on their knees, their feet in irons and hands manacled behind their backs, thus waiting for the executioners, who went round, and with a kind of two-handed sword cut off their heads without being laid on a block.

[21] On 23 November 1842, Plenipotentiary Henry Pottinger condemned China's massacre of non-combatants and demanded that the officials responsible for them be degraded, punished and their property confiscated with the amount paid to the British government for compensation to the families of those executed.

He stated that he obtained proof the emperor ordered the execution, but that it was due to the Chinese authorities in Taiwan falsely reporting that they were a hostile group who attacked the island despite the vessels not being warships and the captured crew not being military personnel.

The British government were not aware of the postings until the governor of Hong Kong, John Francis Davis, informed Foreign Secretary Lord Aberdeen on 11 March 1845.

[8] In 1867, 25 years after the executions, an interview was published in which British physician William Maxwell asked an old clerk in a Taiwan hong if he remembered the beheadings.