The US-ASEAN Special Summit and 191 Years of US Strategic Involvement in Southeast Asia Adam Leong Kok Wey

The US-ASEAN Special Summit was convened recently in Washington, D.C. from 12 to 13 May 2022.  The Special Summit coincided with 45 years of US-ASEAN Dialogue Relations and the first to be hosted at the White House.  The Special Summit discussed the intensification of cooperation in various areas which included Covid-19 management, sustainable development, maritime cooperation, climate change, and economic ties.   Nevertheless, US relations with the Southeast Asia region has a long historical record. In a less widely known event which occurred 191 years ago, provided the catalyst for the US’s first strategic involvement in the Southeast Asia region.

In February 1831, a US merchant ship, Friendship, arrived at Kuala Batu off the coast of Pedir located at northwest of Sumatra island to conduct its lucrative pepper trade. The Strait of Malacca runs between the eastern side of Sumatra and the western coastline of Peninsular Malaysia. While smaller boats were used to transport pepper onto Friendship moored off the coast, it was attacked by pirates which killed its crew and plundered its cargo of opium and gold. The captain of Friendship, Charles M. Endicott and a few of his men who were ashore when the attack took place survived and escaped. With the help of other US merchantmen in the area, he managed to recover his ship and sailed back to Salem, Massachusetts and reported the incident. US President, Andrew Jackson, was enraged and decided to send a retributive naval operation to inflict ‘chastisement’ – to punish the pirates and deter further pirate attacks. This was the first US naval operation to keep maritime sea lanes safe in Southeast Asia.

A US Navy frigate, USS Potomac, commanded by Commodore John Downes was sent to Sumatra on 19 August 1831. The mission was known as the First Sumatran Expedition. The USS Potomac was armed with a combination of 32 carronades and 35 long guns, and had close to 500 sailors and marines onboard.

The frigate arrived off Kuala Batu on 5^th February 1832 and found that there were five forts guarding the coastline. Commodore Downes met with a local chieftain and was informed that the pirates will not be receptive towards negotiations.  Downes decided to attack  the coastal forts at Kuala Batu on 7^th of February 1832. The USS Potomac, disguised as a Danish merchantman, managed to sail close to Kuala Batu and landed a force of 282 marines and bluejackets.

The US naval party assaulted the forts and started burning the pirates’ boats and but met fierce local resistance that led to brutal hand-to-hand fighting.  The USS Potomac provided covering gun fire with its cannons causing substantial damage to four of the coastal forts and the US naval party succeeded in defeating the pirates on the ground.  An estimated 150 pirates were killed in the amphibious raid while 2 Americans were killed. The USS Potomac continued to bombard Kuala Batu’s last remaining fort further inland and killed another 300 locals before the survivors sued for peace with Downes. Other local chieftains fearing for their own fates also asked for mercy from Downes who made them to agree not to attack any US vessels in the area or else similar punishment will be meted out. The USS Potomac, having accomplished its mission sailed away and completed its circumnavigation of the globe.

Thus, ended the First Sumatran Expedition. Nonetheless, six years later, another US merchant ship, the Eclipse, was attacked at Sumatra near Trobongan village and its crew was massacred.  The US sent a Second Sumatran Expedition which reached Sumatra in 1839. The US naval flotilla of two frigates destroyed Kuala Batu and Muckie. Afterward, there were no more major pirate attacks on US merchantmen in the Strait of Malacca area for a long time.

These US’s strategic missions in the 1830s initiated by the pirate attack on Friendship 190 years ago were the first military interventions to protect maritime security in Southeast Asia which started a long strategic historical record of US actively engaging in Southeast Asia.

Adam Leong Kok Wey is professor in strategic studies and the director of the Centre for Defence and International Security Studies (CDISS) at the National Defence University of Malaysia. His latest book is  Strategy and Special Operations: Eastern and Western Perspectives published by NDUM Press (2021). Parts of this article has been published in The National Interest on 18 August 2021.