Nerbudda incident

Nerbudda incident
Part of the First Opium War
Parade Ground in Tainan where the British subjects were publicly executed
Date 10 August 1842 Location Taiwanfoo, Taiwan Prefecture (now Tainan, Taiwan) Coordinates: 25°09′04″N 121°45′22″E / 25.1511°N 121.7561°E / 25.1511; 121.7561 Result 197 prisoners executed 87 dead from ill-treatment
Belligerents
United Kingdom British East India Company	Qing China
Commanders and leaders
Capt. Frank Denham	Ta-hung-a Yao Ying

 United Kingdom

The Nerbudda incident was the execution of 197 personnel of the British transport ship Nerbudda and brig Ann in southern Taiwan, on 10 August 1842 during the First Opium War. An additional 87 prisoners died from ill-treatment in captivity. In September 1841, the Nerbudda became shipwrecked off the northern Taiwan near Keelung. In March 1842, the Ann also became shipwrecked in the north near Tamsui. Survivors from both ships were captured and marched south to the capital of Taiwan Prefecture, where they were imprisoned before being beheaded on 10 August. Out of the nearly 300 who landed in Taiwan, approximately 11 survived captivity and execution. The Daoguang Emperor ordered the execution on 14 May 1842, after the Chinese defeat in Zhejiang.

In expanding their trading activities in East Asia, the British East India Company viewed Taiwan (Formosa) as a viable trading post with rich resource potential. The Company lobbied the British government to grant a trade monopoly by first occupying the island. In 1840, British national William Huttmann wrote to Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston that given the strategic and commercial value of the island and the Qing dynasty's benign rule over it, a British warship with less than 1,500 troops could occupy its eastern coast while also developing trade. During the First Opium War, British men-of-war patrolled the Taiwan Strait and the Pescadores.

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