On Sept. 28, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pointed to the Ottoman naval victory at the Battle of Preveza in 1538 as a lesson. The Ottoman fleet of 122 galleys under the direction of Adm. Hayreddin Barbarossa and other boats faced 157 galleys of the so-called Holy League of Christendom. The Ottomans were fortunate because, before the battle, the wind died down, becalming the large galleys that belonged to the Genoese and other participants of the Holy League. The lesson? Superior leadership, a well-prepared fleet and a bit of luck can lead to an unexpected but great victory.
Just 33 years later, in 1571, the Ottoman Navy was almost totally destroyed at the Battle of Lepanto. Barbarossa was no longer the lord high admiral, the fleet had retired to winter quarters, sending officers and sailors home, and luck [the wind] favored the Christians.
There is a tendency to not view the Turks as seamen, but the first Turkish fleet was built in the 11th century by an emir ruling an independent state out of İzmir. It had 33 ships with sails and 17 that used oars. Although under its ruler, Chaka Bey, it was successful in conquering several nearby islands, it was eventually defeated by the Byzantines.
It was not until nearly the middle of the 14th century that the Turks put together another formidable naval force. At that time it was the ruler of Aydin who possessed 350 ships and 15,000 men. He preyed on shipping, especially Christian shipping, but was eventually overcome after a fleet was put together that consisted of ships from Venice, the Knights of Rhodes and Cyprus.
The Ottoman Turks were fully aware of the importance of a navy for their expansion and the basis of a fleet was laid in the reign of Sultan Mehmet I (1413-1421). However, this fleet was defeated by Venetian ships at Gallipoli in 1416 when it was trying to rid the Aegean islands of pirates who were under Venice’s control. So the Ottomans built more ships.
Of course, one of the great legends to come out of the siege and conquest of Constantinople concerned the ships that were hauled overland at night and appeared behind Byzantium’s defensive chain across the entrance to the Golden Horn.
The conquest of the Arab world by Sultan Selim I from 1516 to 1517 increased the importance of having a navy for the Ottomans, especially in the eastern Mediterranean. Not only did they have to protect their territorial gains, but they also had to protect pilgrims on the way to Mecca and trade. Privateers [some would say pirates] were co-opted, and among these was the famous Barbarossa. It was under his command that the Ottoman fleet won the battle at Preveza in 1538. And so successful was the fleet that, thanks to a treaty with France, Barbarossa and his fleet were able to spend the winter in Toulon in 1543 after a busy few years harrying the Italian coast.
The Ottoman fleet continued to dominate and terrorize the Mediterranean although the island of Cyprus remained in the hands of the Venetians. Sultan Selim II had had it in mind even before he ascended to the throne that Cyprus should become part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1570, the first troops landed on the island and met with some resistance until it became time to take the fortress at Famagusta. Throughout this time the Ottoman fleet landed supplies and additional troops. The Venetians were only able to get some men and supplies through only once. Famagusta fell in September 1571 and the fleet, no longer needed, withdrew to winter headquarters at Lepanto. And that was where the fleet mounted by the Holy League found it on Oct. 7.
In spite of the disastrous defeat, the Ottomans rebuilt their fleet almost entirely over that winter while the Christian alliance fell apart. The battle at Lepanto was believed to be the last time that only galleys were used in the fighting. Cyprus remained in Ottoman hands and Ottoman hegemony in eastern Mediterranean waters remained firm until Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt.
Circumstances today are greatly different from those of 440 years ago, but they are certainly in people’s minds