H. M. S. S. "Rattler" in China.

This newspaper article, that appeared in the “Friend of China”, provides a full version of the Battle of Nam Quan, the capture on May 10, 1853, of a pirate fleet by H.M.S. Rattler, in the China Seas, near Amoy. For years the United Kingdom operated against the pirates of southwestern China. It took decades to finally clear the South China Sea of pirate junks. The largest problem was that the western and Chinese navies did not have the naval strength to combat the pirates. The HMS Rattler was one of the Royal Navy vessels assigned to counter piracy in the early 1850s. On May 10, 1853, the Rattler found pirates off Nam Quan which is near the present day border with Vietnam. The Friend of China was a newspaper that covered the region of Hong Kong from 1842-1844 and 1846-1858

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