Nukapu Expedition

Nukapu Expedition
Nukapu, circa 1870.
Date October 1871 - February 1872 Location Nukapu, Solomon Islands, Pacific Ocean Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Nukapu
Commanders and leaders
Albert Hastings Markham	unknown
Casualties and losses
1 killed 2 wounded 1 sloop-of-war damaged	20-30 killed ~3 war canoes sunk

The Nukapu Expedition occurred between October 1871 and February 1872 and was a British punitive operation in response to the murder of Bishop John Coleridge Patteson by the natives of Nukapu. A Royal Navy warship was sent to the island and it sank a group of hostile war-canoes and landed men to attack a fortified village.

In October 1871, the screw sloop-of-war HMS Rosario was operating against South Seas blackbirders when her captain, Acting-Commander Albert Hastings Markham received orders to sail for Nukapu in the Solomon Islands. A contemporary newspaper described the events thus:

Markham published an account of the cruise under the title The cruise of the Rosario amongst the New Hebrides and Santa Cruz Islands, exposing the recent atrocities connected with the kidnapping of natives in the South Seas. The measures taken by Rosario became the subject of questions in the House of Commons, and Markham's book on the subject may well have been prompted by them. The book itself makes clear that Markham clearly understood the cycle of violence and deplored both the murderous activities of the Blackbirders, and the apparent need for further violence in restoring order.

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