Vlieter Incident In the Vlieter incident on August 30 , 1799 , a squadron of the navy of the Batavian Republic , commanded by Rear - Admiral Samuel Story , surrendered to the British navy . The incident occurred during the Anglo - Russian Invasion of Holland . It took place on a sandbank near the channel between Texel and the mainland that was known as " De Vlieter " , near Wieringen . Background . During the War of the First Coalition the Dutch Republic was invaded in 1794 by the armies of the French Republic , which led to the flight of Stadtholder William V , Prince of Orange to England , and the proclamation of the Batavian Republic . This Republic now changed sides in the war , entering into an offensive and defensive alliance with France . In the course of the War of the Second Coalition , which actually was a continuation of the first war , without France , Great Britain , or the Batavian Republic having concluded a peace , Great Britain and Russia decided to launch an invasion of the Batavian Republic in the peninsula of North Holland in August 1799 . It was hoped that this invasion would cause a popular uprising of the Dutch population against their republic . The former Stadtholder and his eldest son the Prince of Orange tried to support the expedition by propaganda - efforts and intrigues with disaffected officers . The loyalty of the Batavian navy was especially in doubt , as this was a hotbed of Orangist sentiment . The British Major General Don , who conducted a reconnaissance of the Republic in July , 1799 , estimated that the Helder squadron of the Batavian fleet would fall into British hands without a fight , if the Allies played their cards right . To accomplish this bloodless coup , the invading fleet came well stocked with flags of the previous regime , propaganda pamphlets , and Dutch émigrés , the most important of whom was the Hereditary Stadtholder himself . On behalf of the Prince one of the Orangist officers who had left the Navy in 1795 , Carel Hendrik Ver Huell , had contacted two of his former colleagues , Theodorus Frederik van Capellen and Aegidius van Braam ( who had re - enlisted in the Batavian navy ) , with the object of getting them to organize a mutiny in the Helder squadron ( where they each commanded a ship - of - the - line ) . However , it is not clear whether the two officers indeed made a determined organizational effort " before " the fatal day . The invasion fleet of about 200 warships and transports left England on August 13 , 1799 . Inclement weather at first prevented it from approaching the Dutch coast . However , on August 22 , British Vice - Admiral Mitchell was able to approach the roadstead of Den Helder where the squadron of Admiral Story lay at anchor . Mitchell sent over parlimentaire s demanding that Story defect to the Prince with his fleet , but Story refused indignantly . He replied further that he would ask for further instructions from the Batavian government . The British ships then withdrew and the weather again turned bad for a few days . On August 26 , 1799 an Anglo - Russian invasion fleet of eleven ships - of - the - line and seven frigates arrived at the roadstead of Texel , flying the flag of the Prince of Orange . They started to disembark troops on the 27th , without opposition from the Batavian fleet , that had withdrawn into the Zuider Zee . The commander of the Batavian landforces , General Herman Willem Daendels after losing the Battle of Callantsoog ( 1799 ) ordered the evacuation of the coastal forts of Den Helder . Mutiny and surrender . On August 28 , Admiral Story returned with his squadron to the Vlieter roadstead , where he anchored , because adverse winds made it impossible to attack the British . Enervated by the sight of the Orangist flags on the forts and church steeples of Den Helder , the crews of several of the ships then started to mutiny . Van Braam ' s ship " Leyden " was one of those . He later admitted that it would have been easy for him to quell the revolt , but he intentionally did nothing . Instead , he informed his commanding officer , Admiral Story ( who himself had had to counter an incipient mutiny on the flagship " Washington " ) of the " precarious situation " aboard the other ships of the fleet . Story now sent his flag captain , Van Capellen , and the captain of the " Cerberus " , De Jong , under a flag of truce to the commander of the British squadron , Admiral Michell , to parley . They were to tell Mitchell that the Dutch fleet intended to give battle , in accordance with the explicit orders of the Agent for the Navy of the Batavian Republic , Jacobus Spoors , but that Story had asked for further orders , and proposed to await those . He asked for a temporary truce to avoid unnecessary bloodshed - Story later averred that this was a ruse on his part to gain time to restore discipline on his ships . Mitchell did not fall for this ruse , probably because the two Dutch negotiators were actually the ringleaders of the mutiny . He issued an ultimatum giving Story one hour to defect and join the invasion force with his ships , or face the consequences . Faced with this ultimatum , Story convened a council of war aboard his flagship with all his captains . According to Lieutenant Colonel F . Maitland , who was present at the discussions on board " Washington " as a British parlimentaire , Van Capellen , De Jong , and Van Braam did their best to influence the council in the direction of accepting the ultimatum . He later asked in a letter to General Dundas that " . . . the opinions and sentiments expressed by the captains Van Capelle , Van Braam and the [ sic ] Jong generally in the presence of Admiral Story might not become public and those officers thereby endangered . To you in this letter , I apprehend I do right inform you , that above mentioned captains did declare their attachment to the Stadholder and the former government and their disgust at the present government and their French connections . . . " . Before this council started , the crew of the " Washington " had already begun a full mutiny , refusing to man the guns , and throwing munitions into the sea . Attempts of Story himself , and Van Braam to reason with the mutineers had been of no avail . When asked during the council of war to describe the situation aboard their ships all , except Captain Van Senden of " Batavier " , had similar stories . In these circumstances it seemed impossible to engage in battle . Besides , the officers calculated that their continued resistance would contribute little to the fight against the invasion , as the disembarkation had already taken place . Scuttling the fleet seemed impossible , because the crews would not allow it . Finally , some calculated that it would be better to surrender without resistance , because in that case the ships would end up in the possession of the Stadtholder , instead of becoming war booty for the British . The council of war therefore unanimously decided to lower the flag of the Batavian Republic and declare themselves prisoners of war . They refused , however , to hoist the Orange flag . This may seem a minor point , but it signified that the officers did not defect . When Mitchell accepted the surrender , he did this in the name of the Prince of Orange . He therefore ordered the flag of the Prince to be hoisted , with which order some of the officers complied . This little act was to cost them dearly later on , as it was interpreted as an act of treason . Meanwhile , in the absence of the captains further acts of mutiny had taken place on the other ships . One officer was drowned ; others loyal to the Batavian Republic were beaten up . The Batavian flag was torn up by the mutineers . British officers restored order with some difficulty . After the surrender the Prince visited several of the ships to receive the cheers of the mutineers . He had now hoped to take command of the surrendered fleet himself , but this was denied by the British . The crews were taken off the ships , and British prize crew s sailed them to England . Only five derelict frigates lying in Den Helder were handed over to William . These were manned with volunteer crews of the old - regime Dutch navy , living in the vicinity , and under jury rig sailed to England in November . One of these frigates foundered with loss of life . Aftermath . After this initial success , the Anglo - Russian expedition soon ran into difficulties . The civilian population of North Holland did not display the fervor for the cause of Orange that the Prince had expected . The Batavian army proved remarkably resilient and managed in cooperation with the French army of occupation to deal the Allies defeats at the Battle of Bergen and Battle of Castricum . The Allies therefore evacuated North Holland at the end of October , 1799 . As this was the second surrender of a Batavian fleet in short order ( after the Saldanha Bay surrender of 1796 ) , the authorities of the Batavian Republic decided to convene a court - martial ( " Hoge Zeekrijgsraad " ) on October 8 , 1799 , to exact exemplary punishment of the officers responsible for the surrender , and of the mutineers . As these were away in England the trial had to wait till the first returned to the Netherlands on parole . Those were arrested . Only Story himself , Van Braam and Van Capellen remained outside the reach of the court . They were eventually tried " in absentia " . One captain , N . Connio , of the brig " Gier " was condemned to death , and executed on board the guard ship " Rozenburg " on December 27 , 1799 , to the consternation of the detained officers . Captain Dirk Hendrik Kolff of the " Utrecht " was also condemned to death , but he managed to escape before his execution . Captain De Jong was acquitted of the charge of treason , for lack of evidence , but he was convicted of dereliction of duty . He was cashiered ; had to undergo a symbolic simulated execution ( whereby a sword was swung over his head ) , and was banished for life . The trials were then suspended in hope that the absent officers would become available . In July 1801 the trial was resumed with new indictments against officers who had surrendered ships on earlier occasions or been otherwise derelict . Several other officers were punished in an attempt to make clear to the officer corps that surrender without a fight was unacceptable . In June 1802 the " Hoge Zeekrijgsraad " was replaced by a permanent court , the " Hoge Militaire Vierschaar " ( High Military Court ) . This court eventually conducted the trials of Story , Van Capellen , Van Braam , and Kolff in absentia , after it had become clear that these officers would not return to the Netherlands after the Peace of Amiens in 1802 , when they were released as POWs . They were convicted of dereliction of duty , cowardice , and disloyalty . The court declared them perjurious ( because they had broken their oath of loyalty ) , without honor and " infamous " , and they were cashiered , and banished for life , on penalty of execution ( by beheading in the case of Story ; by death by firing squad in the case of the other three ) . Story moved to Germany . He protested his innocence to the very end , publishing a public defense in the form of a book . He died in Cleves in 1811 , before he could ask the new King of the Netherlands for rehabilitation . The others were more fortunate in this respect . They were fully rehabilitated after the Orangist party was restored to power in 1814 . Van Capellen became a vice - admiral in the new Royal Netherlands Navy , and commanded a squadron at the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816 . Dutch ships surrendered . The squadron of Admiral Story comprised only part of the Batavian fleet . In Amsterdam lay four 74 - gun and two 64 - gun ships ; at Hellevoetsluis one 74 - gun ship and seven 64 - guns , besides several frigates and brigs . Letter of capitulation of Admiral Story to Admiral Mitchell . " " Neither your superiority , nor the threat that the spilling of human blood should be laid to my account , could prevent my shewing to you , to the last moment , what I could do for my sovereign , whom I acknowledge to be no other than the Batavian people and its representatives , when your prince ' s and the Orange flags have obtained their end . The traitors whom I commanded refused to fight ; and nothing remains to me and my brave officers but vain rage and the dreadful reflection of our present situation : I therefore deliver over to you the fleet which I commanded . From this moment it is your obligation to provide for the safety of my officers and the few brave men who are on - board the Batavian ships , as I declare myself and my officers prisoners of war , and remain to be considered as such . " "