High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Persian Gulf Campaign, in 1809, was an operation by a British Royal Navy to force Arab pirates to cease their raids on British ships in the Persian Gulf, particularly on the Persian and Arabian coasts of the Straits of Hormuz. The operation`s success was limited as the Royal Navy forces, already heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars, were unable to permanently suppress pirate activity in the region. The expedition did achieve its short term goals by destroying three pirate bases and over 80 pirate vessels, including the largest pirate ship in the region, the converted merchant ship Minerva. Although operations continued into 1810, the British were unable to destroy every pirate vessel and by 1811 the pirate attacks had resumed, although at a lower intensity than previously.