Battle of Escape Creek

Date25–27 May 1857

Location

Escape Creek, Guangdong, China

23°02′17″N 113°31′19″E / 23.038°N 113.522°E / 23.038; 113.522

Result British victory

Battle of Escape Creek
Part of the Second Opium War
Commodore Elliot leading gunboats to attack the Mandarin junks
Date 25–27 May 1857 Location Escape Creek, Guangdong, China 23°02′17″N 113°31′19″E / 23.038°N 113.522°E / 23.038; 113.522 Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Qing China
Commanders and leaders
Charles Elliot	Admiral Sonhay[1]
Strength
13 gunboats 7 cutters & gigs[2]	41 war-junks
Casualties and losses
31 wounded[3]	27 junks captured or destroyed[1]

The Battle of Escape Creek was a naval engagement fought between the United Kingdom's Royal Navy and the Qing Chinese naval force on 25–27 May 1857 during the Second Opium War. Commodore Charles Elliot's squadron chased the war-junks at Escape Creek (present-day East River) and then, once the British ships were grounded as the river narrowed, they chased them in the ships' boats until all the junks had been overhauled.^[4]