Britain joined the French Revolutionary Wars in February 1793, but the news did not reach the Indian Ocean for four months. The immediate priority of the British squadron based at ports in British India under Commodore William Cornwallis was the capture of the French colonies in India, especially the main port in Pondicherry, and once this operation was completed at the end of August 1793, the squadron returned to Europe. This left British commerce in Eastern waters badly exposed, and privateers and warships operating from Isle de France captured a number of merchant vessels, including the large East Indiaman Princess Royal which was seized in the Sunda Strait on 27 September by three privateer corvettes.