When Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini of Zanzibar died unexpectedly on August 25, 1896, his ambitious nephew Khalid bin Barghash instantly seized the royal palace and declared himself the sovereign ruler. Unfortunately for Khalid, an existing 1886 treaty mandated that any prospective candidate required explicit permission from the British Consul to ascend the throne. The British favoured a far more compliant relative, Hamud bin Muhammad, and promptly issued a stern ultimatum: Khalid had until 9:00 AM on August 27 to disarm his troops, step down, and vacate the premises.
Believing the British diplomatic core was bluffing, Khalid assembled a force of 2,800 men, heavily fortified the royal wooden palace, and positioned his limited artillery—including a handful of shore-facing guns and a clockwork-like battery of quick-firing cannons—directly toward the coastline. At 9:02 AM, having received no response to the deadline, three British cruisers and two gunboats anchored in the harbor opened fire. The Royal Navy high-explosive shells decimated the shore defenses almost instantly, turning the palace's clockwork artillery into scrap metal and setting the primary timber structure ablaze.
Zanzibar's naval presence, consisting solely of the royal yacht HHS Glasgow, was sunk within minutes by counter-battery fire. By 9:40 AM, the royal flag on the crumbling palace was shot down, marking an official unconditional surrender. Khalid fled through a rear exit to seek asylum at the local German consulate, ending the world's shortest war in just 38 minutes.
Casualty numbers highlighted the absolute tactical mismatch: over 500 of Khalid's defenders were killed or wounded, whereas the entire British force sustained only one injured sailor.