[2] Pellew's departure for the East Indies was delayed by the Vellore Mutiny in the spring, and instead he sent frigates to reconnoitre the situation of the Dutch forces in the region.

[6] By 23 November, Pellew's squadron was approaching the Sunda Strait from the southwest when he encountered the British frigate HMS Sir Francis Drake, which he attached to his force.

Three days later, the squadron passed the port of Bantam and seized the Dutch East India Company brig Maria Wilhelmina, continuing on to Batavia during the night.

[7] At the approaches to the port, the squadron separated, with the frigates and brig passing between Onrust Island and the shore while the ships of the line took a longer route through deeper water.

[6][a] Determined to prevent the Dutch from refloating the grounded ships, Admiral Pellew ordered landing parties to assemble in the boats of his squadron alongside Terpsichore.

[7] Passing through the bombardment from the shoreline, Pellew's men boarded Phoenix to find that the Dutch crew had just abandoned the vessel, scuttling the frigate as they departed.

In addition to Phoenix, William and the merchant ships, Pellew's squadron had burnt the 18-gun brigs Aventurier and Patriot, the 14-gun Zee-Ploeg, the 10-gun Arnistein, the 8-gun Johanna Suzanna and the 6-gun Snelheid.

[5] A lack of resources in the region and the threat posed by the French Indian Ocean island bases delayed larger scale British operations against the East Indies until 1810, when a series of invasions rapidly eliminated the remaining Dutch presence in the Pacific.