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Ottoman Navy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Main article: History of the Turkish Navy

The Ottoman Navy was established in the early 14th century. During its long existence it was
involved in many conflicts; refer to list of Ottoman sieges and landings and list of Admirals in the
Ottoman Empire for a brief chronology.

Contents
■ 1 Rise (1299–1453)
■ 2 Growth (1453–1683)
■ 3 Stagnation (1683–1827)
■ 4 Decline (1828–1908)
■ 5 Dissolution (1908–1922)
■ 5.1 World War I and aftermath
■ 6 Gallery
■ 7 See also
■ 8 References and sources

Rise (1299–1453)
See also: Rise of the Ottoman Empire

The conquest of İmralı

Military &
Island in the Sea of political history
Marmara in 1308
marked the first Rise of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman naval victory Time span 154 years
(for a timeline of the # Sultans 8
naval actions of the Soc-econ Enlargement
Ottoman fleet, see the
See also
History of the Turkish
The Battle of Zonchio in 1499 was Navy.) In 1321 the
the first naval battle in history where Ottoman fleet made its first landings on Thrace in
cannons were used on ships southeastern Europe. In 1351 the Ottoman naval forces built
the first Turkish castles in Europe, and in 1352 the Anatolian
shores of the strategic Bosporus Strait near Constantinople
(Istanbul, and both shores of the equally strategic Dardanelles Strait were conquered by the Ottoman
fleet.

In 1373 the first landings and conquests on the Aegean shores of Macedonia were made, which was
followed by the first Ottoman siege of Thessaloniki in 1374. The conquest of Thessaloniki and
Macedonia were completed in 1387. Between 1387 and 1423 the Ottoman fleet contributed to the
territorial expansions of the Ottoman Empire on the Balkan peninsula and the Black Sea coasts of
Anatolia. Following the first conquests of Venetian territories in Morea, the first Ottoman-Venetian
War (1423–1430) started. In the meantime the Ottoman fleet continued to contribute to the
expansion of the Ottoman Empire in the Aegean and Black Seas, with the conquests of Sinop (1424),
Izmir (1426) and the reconquest of Thessaloniki from the Venetians (1430). Albania was
reconquered by the Ottoman fleet with landings between 1448 and 1450.

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Growth (1453–1683)
See also: Growth of the Ottoman Empire

In 1453 the Ottoman

Military &
fleet participated in the political history
historic conquests of
Constantinople Growth of the Ottoman Empire
(Istanbul, Gökçeada, Time span 230 years
Lemnos and Thasos. # Sultans 11
The conquest of the Soc-econ Enlargement
Duchy of Athens in
See also
Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha Morea was completed
defeated the Holy League of Charles between 1458 and 1460,
V under the command of Andrea followed by the conquest of the Empire of Trebizond and the
Doria at the Battle of Preveza in Genoese colony of Amasra in 1461, which brought an end to
1538 the final vestiges of the Byzantine Empire. In 1462 the
Ottoman fleet conquered the Genoese islands of the northern
Aegean Sea, including Lesbos. This was followed by the
Ottoman-Venetian War of 1463-1479. In the following period the Ottoman fleet gained more
territory in the Aegean Sea, and in 1475 set foot on Crimea on the northern shores of the Black Sea.
Until 1499 this was followed by further expansion on the Black Sea coasts (such as the conquest of
Georgia in 1479) and on the Balkan peninsula (such as the final reconquest of Albania in 1497, and
the conquest of Montenegro in 1499). The loss of Venetian forts in Montenegro, near the strategic
Castelnuovo, triggered the Ottoman-Venetian War of 1499-1503, during which the Turkish fleet of
Kemal Reis defeated the Venetian forces at the Battle of Zonchio (1499) and the Battle of Modon
(1500). By 1503 the Ottoman fleet raided the northeastern Adriatic coasts of Italy, and completely
captured the Venetian lands on Morea, the Ionian Sea coast and the southeastern Adriatic Sea coast.

Starting from the conquest of Syria in 1516, the Ottoman fleet of Selim I started expanding the
Ottoman territories towards the Levant and the Mediterranean coasts of North Africa. Between 1516
and 1517 Algeria was conquered from Spain by the forces of Oruç Reis who declared his allegiance
to the Ottoman Empire, which was followed by the conquest of Egypt and the end of the Mameluke
Empire in 1517. In 1522 the strategic island of Rhodes, then the seat of the Knights of St. John, was
conquered by the naval fleet of Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis; Suleiman I let the Knights leave the
island, who relocated their base first to Sicily and later to Malta.

In 1527 the Ottoman fleet participated in the conquest of

Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia and Bosnia. In 1529 the Ottoman
fleet under Salih Reis and Aydın Reis destroyed the Spanish
fleet of Rodrigo Portundo near the Isle of Formentera. This
was followed by the first conquest of Tunisia from Spain and
the reconquest of Morea by the fleet of Barbaros Hayreddin
Paşa, whose fleet later conquered the islands belonging to the
Duchy of Naxos in 1537. Afterwards, the Ottoman fleet laid
siege on the Venetian island of Corfu, and landed on the
coasts of Calabria and Puglia, which forced the Republic of Barbarossa's galley during his
Venice and Habsburg Spain of Charles V to ask for the Pope campaign in France,1543.
to create a Holy League, which consisted of Spain, the
Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa, the Papal States
and the Knights of Malta. The joint fleet was to be commanded by Charles V's top admiral, Andrea
Doria. The Holy League and the Ottoman fleet under the command of Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa
encountered in September 1538 at the Battle of Preveza, which is often considered the greatest

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Turkish naval victory in history. The Ottoman fleet participated with French forces to the Siege of
Nice, and, with Matrakçı Nasuh penetrated the French harbor of Toulon in 1543, in the Ottoman
occupation of Toulon.

In 1541, 1544, 1552 and 1555 the Spanish-Italian fleet of

Charles V under the command of Andrea Doria were
defeated in Algiers, Naples, Ponza and Piombino,
respectively. In the meantime, the Ottoman Indian Ocean
Fleet, based in Suez and Basra, defeated the Portuguese
forces on several occasions near the Arabian peninsula,
conquering Aden and Yemen (1538–1539) which were
important Portuguese ports, along with Jeddah, Djibouti and
Hijaz on the Red Sea coast. Between 1547-1548 Yemen was
reconquered from the Portuguese, while in the Persian Gulf
and Arabian Sea, other important Portuguese ports such as
Oman, Hormuz, Qatar and Debal were secured in 1552.

The Ottoman naval

victory at the Battle of
Preveza in 1538 and
the Battle of Djerba in
1560 ensured the
Ottoman supremacy Surviving fragment of the first
in the Mediterranean World Map of Piri Reis (1513)
Sea for several
decades, until the
Ottoman Empire suffered their first ever military defeat at the
Ottoman fleet anchored at French hands of the Europeans at the Battle of Lepanto (1571). But
port of Toulon in 1543. Miniature the defeat at Lepanto, despite being much celebrated in
by Matrakçı Nasuh who was Europe, was only a temporary setback: it could not reverse
travelling with the fleet. the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus, and within a year, the
Ottomans built an equally large fleet, which in 1574
conquered Tunisia from Spain. This completing the Ottoman conquest of North Africa, following the
operations of the Ottoman fleet under Turgut Reis which had earlier conquered Libya (1551) and of
Salih Reis, who had conquered the coasts of Morocco beyond the Strait of Gibraltar in 1553. In 1565
the Sultanate of Aceh in Sumatra (Indonesia) declared allegiance to the Ottoman Empire, and in
1569 the Ottoman fleet of Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis sailed to new ports such as Debal, Surat, Janjira and
finally set foot on Aceh with a well equipped fleet of 22 ships, which marked the easternmost
Ottoman territorial expansion.

Starting from the early 17th century, the Ottoman fleet began to venture into the Atlantic Ocean
(earlier, Kemal Reis had ventured into the Canary Islands in 1501, while the fleet of Murat Reis the
Elder had captured Lanzarote of the Canary Islands in 1585). In 1617 the Ottoman fleet captured
Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean, before raiding Sussex, Plymouth, Devon, Hartland Point, Cornwall
and the other counties of western England in August 1625. In 1627 Ottoman naval ships,
accompanied by corsairs from the Barbary Coast, raided the Shetland Islands, Faroe Islands,
Denmark, Norway and Iceland. Between 1627 and 1631 the same Ottoman force also raided the
coasts of Ireland and Sweden.

In 1655 a force of 40 Ottoman ships captured the Isle of Lundy in the Bristol Channel, which served
as the main base for Ottoman naval and privateering operations in the North Atlantic until 1660,
when Ottoman ships appeared off the eastern coasts of North America, particularly being sighted at
the British colonies like Newfoundland and Virginia. Finally, the long lasting Ottoman-Venetian
War of 1645–1669 ended with Ottoman victory and the completion of the conquest of Crete,
marking the Empire's territorial zenith.

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Stagnation (1683–1827)
See also: Stagnation of the Ottoman Empire

In the rest of the 17th and 18th centuries, however, the

Military &
operations of the Ottoman fleet were largely limited to the political history
Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Red Sea. The Morean War
saw numerous battles with the Venetians, with mixed results. In Stagnation of the Ottoman Empire
1708 another long lasting objective, the conquest of Oran (the Time span 133 years
final Spanish stronghold in Algeria) was accomplished. # Sultans 11
Soc-econ
The 18th century was a period of stalemate for the Ottoman
See also
fleet, with numerous victories matched by equally numerous
defeats. Important Ottoman naval victories in this period
included the reconquest of Moldavia and Azov from the Russians in 1711. The Ottoman–Venetian
War of 1714–1718 saw the reconquest of Morea from the Venetians and the elimination of the last
Venetian island strongholds in the Aegean. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 however,
the Ottoman fleet was destroyed in the Battle of Chesme (1770). The next Russo-Turkish War again
saw numerous naval defeats at the hands of the Russian Black Sea Fleet under Admiral Fyodor
Ushakov.

During the Greek War of Independence, the much larger Ottoman fleet proved unable to effectively
counter the Greek fleets. Several large-scale engagements, such as Samos and Gerontas were won
for the rebels by the use of fireships, which negated the presence of the far superior Ottoman ships-of
-the-line.

Decline (1828–1908)
See also: Decline of the Ottoman Empire

The 19th century saw

Military &
further decline in political history
Ottoman naval power,
despite occasional Decline of the Ottoman Empire
recovery. Following the Time span 82 years
defeat against the # Sultans 5
combined British- Soc-econ Reformation
French-Russian fleet at
See also
Mahmudiye (1829), built by the the Battle of Navarino in
Imperial Naval Arsenal on the 1827, Sultan Mahmud
Golden Horn in Istanbul, was for II gave priority to
many years the largest warship in develop a strong and
the world. The 62x17x7m ship was modern Ottoman
armed with 128 cannons on 3 decks. naval force. The first
She participated in numerous steam ships of the
important naval battles, including Ottoman Navy were
the Siege of Sevastopol (1854-1855) acquired in 1828. In
during the Crimean War 1829 the world's
largest warship for
many years, the 62x17x7m ship-of-the-line Mahmudiye,
which had 128 cannons on 3 decks, was built for the Ottoman
Navy at the Imperial Naval Arsenal on the Golden Horn in
Istanbul.

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In 1875, during the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz, the Ottoman Nordenfelt class Ottoman submarine
Navy had 21 battleships and 173 other types of warships, Abdülhamid (1886) was the first
ranking as the third largest navy in the world after the British submarine in history to fire a
and French navies. But the vast size of the navy was too torpedo while submerged under
much of a burden for the collapsing Ottoman economy to water. Two submarines of this class,
sustain. Abdülhamid II's suspicion of the reformist admirals, Nordenfelt II (Abdülhamid, 1886)
who supported Midhat Pasha, made things even worse, and and Nordenfelt III (Abdülmecid,
consequently almost the entire Ottoman fleet was kept locked 1887) joined the Ottoman fleet.
inside the Golden Horn for more than 3 decades, during They were built in pieces by Des
which the ships decayed. Vignes (Chertsey) and Vickers
(Sheffield) in England, and
Abdulhamid has often been blamed for the long inactivity assembled at the Taşkızak Naval
and the decay of the navy. It has been suggested that the two Shipyard in Istanbul
Nordenfelt class submarines acquired by Abdulhamid
himself, Abdülhamid (1886) and Abdülmecid (1887), could seldom leave the Golden Horn due to the
sultan's suspicions and fear of a Navy-based coup against him; which eventually started to take place
with the naval demonstration at the port of Selanik in 1908.

In fact, despite his suspicions of his admirals, Abdülhamid was painfully aware that the empire
needed a navy to shield herself from the ever-growing Russian threat. He was fresh out of options,
however. The second half of the 19th century was a period of breakthroughs in the field of naval
engineering. The Ottoman Navy was rapidly becoming obsolete, and needed to replace all her
warships once a decade to keep pace with technological progress - which, given the dismal state of
the economy, was clearly not an option.

The aforementioned submarines were an attempt to gain an edge over the Greek navy (which had
only one Nordenfelt submarine, a smaller and older version). However, it was quickly realized that -
like the other Nordenfelt submarines ordered by Russia- they suffered from stability problems and
were too easy to swamp on the surface. The Turks could not find a crew that was willing to serve on
the primitive submarines. Abdülhamid ended up rotting at dock, while Abdülmecid was never fully
completed.[1]

Dissolution (1908–1922)
See also: Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire

Following the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, the

Committee of Union and Progress which effectively took
control of the country sought to develop a strong Ottoman
naval force. The poor condition of the fleet was evident
during the Ottoman Naval Parade of 1910, and the Ottoman
Navy Foundation was established in order to purchase new
ships through public donations. Those who made donations
received different types of medals according to the size of
The Ottoman Navy at the Golden their contributions. The bad state of the Ottoman fleet
Horn in Istanbul, in the early days of became even more evident with the outbreak of the First
the First World War Balkan War, when it was twice defeated by the Greek Navy
at the battles of Elli and Lemnos, while several smaller
vessels were captured or sunk by Greek torpedo boats. The
only Ottoman naval successes were the raiding actions of the light cruiser Hamidiye under Rauf
Orbay.

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In the aftermath of the Balkan Wars, the Ottomans remained engaged in a dispute over the
sovereignty of the North Aegean islands with Greece. A naval race ensued in 1914, with the
Ottoman government ordering large dreadnought battleships like Sultan Osman I and Reşadiye.
Despite the payment for both ships, the United Kingdom confiscated them at the outbreak of World
War I and renamed them as HMS Agincourt and HMS Erin. This caused some ill-feeling towards
Britain among the Ottoman public, and the German Empire took advantage of the situation by
sending the battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser SMS Breslau which entered service in the
Ottoman fleet as Yavuz Sultan Selim and Midilli respectively. This event significantly contributed to
the decision of entry into World War I on the side of Germany and the Central Powers.

World War I and aftermath

Further information: Naval warfare of World War
I#Black Sea

The British, French and ANZAC fleets could not pass

through the Dardanelles Strait (Çanakkale Boğazı)
during the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915 thanks to the heavy
Turkish fortifications lining the strait and mining by
Turkish minelayers like Nusret, and fierce fighting by the
Turkish soldiers on land, sea and air, who were well
aware that they were resisting the capture of Istanbul and
the occupation of their homeland. [2]

Following the end of World War I, the Ottoman Navy was dissolved by the victorious Allies and the
large ships of the Ottoman fleet were towed to the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara under the
control of Allied warships, or locked inside the Golden Horn. Some of them were scrapped. Some
eventually became part of the new Turkish Navy.[citation needed]

Gallery

"Göke" (1495) was the Barbarossa Hayreddin

Turgut Reis
flagship of Kemal Reis Pasha

See also
■ Turkish Navy
■ History of Turkish navies
■ List of battleships of the Ottoman Empire
■ List of sail battleships of the Ottoman Empire
■ List of Ottoman sieges and landings
■ List of admirals in the Ottoman Empire
■ List of naval collaboration treaties signed by the Ottoman Empire

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■ List of Ottoman Kaptan Pashas

■ Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul

References and sources

1. ^ The Invention of the Submarine, Greg Goebel, http://www.vectorsite.net/twsub1.html
2. ^ See Massey, Castles of Steel

■ The Ottomans: Comprehensive and detailed online chronology of Ottoman history in English.
(http://www.theottomans.org/english/chronology/index.asp#)
■ A Sea Empire (http://www.barbaros.biz/Deniz.htm)
■ E. Hamilton Currey, Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean, London, 1910
■ Bono, Salvatore: Corsari nel Mediterraneo (Corsairs in the Mediterranean), Oscar Storia
Mondadori. Perugia, 1993.
■ Corsari nel Mediterraneo: Condottieri di ventura. Online database in Italian, based on
Salvatore Bono's book. (http://www.corsaridelmediterraneo.it/indice/a.htm)
■ Bradford, Ernle, The Sultan's Admiral: The life of Barbarossa, London, 1968.
■ Wolf, John B., The Barbary Coast: Algeria under the Turks, New York, 1979; ISBN 0-393-
01205-0
■ Turkish Navy official website: Historic heritage of the Turkish Navy (in Turkish)
(http://www.dzkk.tsk.mil.tr/TURKCE/tarihiMiras.asp?
strAnaFrame=TarihiMiras&strIFrame=INDEX)
■ Turkish Navy official website: Turkish seamen in the Atlantic Ocean (in Turkish)
(http://www.dzkk.tsk.mil.tr/TURKCE/TarihiMiras/AtlantikteTurkDenizciligi.asp)
■ Istanbul Naval Museum Official Website (http://www.denizmuzeleri.tsk.tr/idmk)
■ Navy pages in 'Turkey in WW1' web site (http://www.turkeyswar.com/navy/navy_index.htm)
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Categories: Naval history of the Ottoman Empire | Military of the Ottoman Empire | Ottoman Navy

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