 The expeditionary force left Bombay on 17 September , intending to rendezvous at Muscat the following week . However , the force was repeatedly delayed during their passage , first with providing escorts to convoys of country ships in the Arabian Sea and subsequently with rescuing survivors of the Stromboli , which was so rotten that she fell apart in the ocean swell with considerable loss of life . When the force eventually arrived at Muscat in October , Sultan Sa 'id informed Wainwright that over 20 @,@ 000 Bedouin warriors had descended on the coast to join the Al Qasimi . Understanding that a protracted land campaign would be impossible with the forces available , Wainwright determined to make a series of small raids against the principle pirate bases in the area of the Straits of Hormuz , beginning with Ras al @-@ Khaimah , to the north of the Strait on the Arabian coast . 
