Battle of Langat River

Battle of Langat River
Part of Acehnese-Portuguese conflicts
Date 1628 Location Langat River, Malay Peninsula Result Portuguese victory.
Belligerents
Portuguese Empire	Aceh Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Dom Francisco Coutinho	Unknown
Strength
15 half-galleys.	100 ships 35 galleys
Casualties and losses
Few	99 vessels 3000 men 800 guns

The Battle of Langat River was an armed encounter between a fleet of the Portuguese Empire and the Sultanate of Aceh, within the Langat River in the Malay peninsula in 1628. The Portuguese were victorious.

The battle

Sometime after late May or early June, Portuguese command at Malacca received reports that an Acehnese armada had been spotted within the Langat River. Anticipating that the Acehnese intended to attack the city, the captain of Malacca Gaspar de Melo de Sampaio tasked Dom Francisco Coutinho to seek out the fleet and destroy it, with 15 half-galleys.

The Portuguese found the Acehnese ships heavily fortified by the banks of Langat River. Nevertheless, Coutinho moved his oarships into the river and after firing a salvo of artillery and muskety grappled and boarded the Acehnese vessels closest of the mouth of the river. At the end of a stiff struggle, having suffered heavy losses, the Acehnese lost or abandoned almost all of their ships, 3000 men killed, captured or missing, and 800 guns captured by the Portuguese.

See also

• Battle of Duyon River

References