Raid on Manila (1798)

Raid on Manila
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars
Map of modern Manila. Approximate site of battle marked in red.
Date January 1798 Location Manila, Spanish Philippines Result British victory at Manila; Spanish victory at Zamboanga
Belligerents
Great Britain	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Captain Edward Cooke	Rear-Admiral Ignacio Maria de Álava
Strength
Frigates HMS Sybille and HMS Fox	Defences of Manila
Casualties and losses
None at Manila; 6 killed, 16 wounded and a boat sunk at Zamboanga	3 gunboats captured at Manila; 1 killed and 4 wounded at Zamboanga

Coordinates: 14°31′N 120°56′E / 14.517°N 120.933°E / 14.517; 120.933

The Raid on Manila of January 1798 was a Royal Navy false flag military operation during the French Revolutionary Wars intended to scout the strength of the defences of Manila, capital of the Spanish Philippines, capture a Manila galleon and assess the condition of the Spanish Navy squadron maintained in the port. Spain had transformed from an ally of Great Britain in the War of the First Coalition into an enemy in 1796. Thus the presence of a powerful Spanish squadron at Manila posed a threat to the China Fleet, an annual convoy of East Indiaman merchant ships from Macau in Qing Dynasty China to Britain, which was of vital economic importance to Britain. So severe was this threat that a major invasion of the Spanish Philippines had been planned from British India during 1797, but had been called off following the Treaty of Campo Formio in Europe and the possibility of a major war in India between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore.

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