Britain Still Holds Record for Shortest Naval War to Dislodge a Ruler
Notwithstanding the flawless execution of Operation Absolute Resolve to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Britain is still believed to hold the record for conducting the shortest naval war to dislodge a foreign ruler.
At 09.02 on August 27, 1896, the Royal Navy commenced its operation to remove Sultan Khalid bin Barghash Al Busaidi, who had seized the role of ruler of Zanzibar from his uncle Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini Al Busaidi. Sultan Hamad had died three nights previously, possibly with some assistance from poison administered by his nephew. The Sultans of Zanzibar had declared independence and had seceded from Oman in 1858, and by 1896 had accepted British oversight, largely to avoid being colonized by Germany, oversight which included the right to vet who should hold the role of Sultan. The British did not regard Khalid as suitable for the role of sultan, primarily because he was resistant to the British policy of ending slavery.
The war commenced at 09:02 with five British ships (HM Ships Phiolomel, Thrush, Sparrow, Racoon and flagship HMS St George) in the harbor bombarding the Sultan’s palace, which he was defending with about 2,800 soldiers armed with machine guns and field artillery. The British shellfire set the palace alight, destroyed the artillery, sank the flagship of the Sultan’s navy plus two small patrol craft, and encouraged what remained of the Sultan’s forces to flee. Landing parties were put ashore, and the bombardment and all forms of resistance had ceased by 09:46, meaning the war had lasted 43 minutes.
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Sultan Khalid himself had left the palace shortly after the bombardment began, and took refuge in a nearby friendly consulate. He was later exiled to St Helena in the South Atlantic, but was subsequently upgraded to the Seychelles. His successor, Sultan Hamoud bin Mohammed Al Busaidi, immediately abolished nearly all forms of slavery, and enjoyed a short but successful reign.
The active element of Operation Absolute Resolve is believed to have started when US forces on foot reached the Maduro compound at 01:01, and had concluded by 03:29, 147 minutes later, by which time Maduro was aboard a helicopter on his long journey to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.