 It was hoped by Stuart and Rainer that the Batavian governor Johan Van Angelbeek might be persuaded to allow a peaceful occupation of Ceylon by British forces , especially in light of the Kew Letters from William of Orange , which advocated cooperation with British forces . A Major Agnew was sent ashore at Colombo to negotiate and his attempts to persuade Van Angelbeek to allow 300 British troops to land at Fort <unk> , which overlooked Trincomalee , were successful . On arrival off the port on the eastern coast of Ceylon on 1 August however the commander of the defences refused to acknowledge the instruction , citing problems with the wording of the instructions . For two days attempts were made to convince the Batavian commander , the British position partially undermined by the destruction of Diomede in Trincomalee harbour after striking an uncharted rock . Although all of the crew and passengers were saved , large quantities of military stores sank with the frigate . 
