History of Turkish navies

Turkish naval forces have historically been among the largest sea powers in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean since the Medieval period.

General history

"Göke" (1495) was the flagship of the Ottoman admiral Kemal Reis.

The Battle of Zonchio in 1499 was the first naval battle in history where cannons were used on ships.

Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha defeated the Holy League of Charles V under the command of Andrea Doria at the Battle of Preveza in 1538.

Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha

File:Turgut Reis.jpg

Turgut Reis

Surviving fragment of the first World Map of Piri Reis (1513)

The first Anatolian Turkish naval fleet, which consisted of 33 sail ships and 17 oar ships, was established at the port of İzmir by Çaka Bey in 1081, following his conquest of Smyrna (İzmir), Urla, Çeşme, Phocaea (Foça) and Sığacık on the Aegean coast of Anatolia in that same year. Çaka Bey's fleet conquered Lesbos (1089) and Chios (1090), before defeating a Byzantine fleet near the Koyun Islands off Chios on May 19, 1090, which marked the first major Anatolian Seljuk naval victory in a sea war. In 1091 Emir Çaka Bey's fleet conquered the islands of Samos and Rhodes in the Aegean Sea, but was then defeated and driven out by the Byzantine admirals Constantine Dalassenos and John Doukas. In 1095 Çaka Bey's fleet conquered the strategic port city and Gulf of Adramyttium (Edremit) on the Aegean coast of Anatolia and the city of Abydos on the Dardanelles Strait.

Anatolian Seljuk emperor Alaeddin Keykubad I conquered Alanya and established a Turkish naval arsenal there. Alanya became the homeport of the Turkish Mediterranean fleet. Alaeddin Keykubad I later established a Turkish Black Sea fleet based in Sinop, which, under the command of Emir Çoban, conquered parts of the Crimean peninsula and Sugdak on the Sea of Azov (1220–1237).

The Ottomans began to develop a navy in the early 14th century, and the conquest of İmralı Island in the Sea of Marmara in 1308 marked the first Ottoman naval victory. In 1321 the Ottoman fleet made its first landings on Thrace in 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.

Famous Turkish admirals like Kemal Reis (who twice defeated the Venetian fleet at the First Battle of Lepanto in 1499 and the Second Battle of Lepanto in 1500); Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa (known as Barbarossa (Redbeard) in the West) who defeated the Holy League of Charles V under the command of Andrea Doria at the Island of Peñón in 1531, Battle of Preveza in 1538 and Algiers in 1541; Turgut Reis (known as Dragut in the West) who conquered Libya in 1551 and defeated the fleet of Charles V under the command of Andrea Doria at the Battle of Ponza in 1552; Piyale Paşa who defeated the Holy League of Philip II under the command of Giovanni Andrea Doria at the Battle of Djerba in 1560; Oruç Reis who established the Turkish presence in North Africa which lasted 4 centuries; Salih Reis who conquered Morocco in 1553 and extended Ottoman territory into the Atlantic Ocean; Uluç (Kılıç) Ali Reis who restored the Turkish domination of the Mediterranean after the Third Battle of Lepanto in 1571 and conquered Tunisia from Spain in 1574; Murat Reis who fought the Portuguese at the Indian Ocean between 1552 and 1554 and captured Lanzarote of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean in 1585; Seydi Ali Reis (known as Sidi Ali Reis in the West) who fought the Portuguese at the Indian Ocean in 1554 and is famous for his books of travel which are translated into many languages; Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis (known as Curtogoli in the West) who played an important role in the conquests of Egypt in 1517 and Rhodes in 1522, and established the Ottoman Indian Ocean Fleet based in Suez which was later commanded by his son, Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis, who lead the Turkish naval expedition to Aceh (1568–1569) which marked the easternmost territorial expansion of the Ottoman Empire, and numerous others have all made it to the hall of fame of great mariners in history.

The famous Turkish admiral and cartographer Piri Reis crafted maps and books of navigation, including his first world map in 1513 which is one of the oldest surviving maps of America and possibly the oldest surviving map of Antarctica. The first world map (1513) and second world map (1528) of Piri Reis are today preserved in the Library of Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. Other works of Piri Reis are preserved in the Turkish Naval Museum in Istanbul.

Expansion to the Aegean, Black, Ionian and Adriatic Seas

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 first Ottoman 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 1479. In 1453 the Ottoman fleet participated in the historic conquests of Constantinople (Istanbul), Imbros, Lemnos and Thasos. The conquest of the Duchy of Athens in Morea was completed between 1458 and 1460, followed by the conquest of the Empire of Trebizond and the Genoese colony of Amasra in 1461, which brought an end to the final vestiges of the Byzantine Empire. In 1462 the Ottoman fleet conquered the Genoese-controlled islands of the northern Aegean Sea, including Lesbos and Chios. 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.

Expansion to the Levant and Maghreb, operations in the West Mediterranean

In the Siege of Nice in 1543, combined forces of the Franco-Ottoman alliance managed to capture the city.

The Ottoman fleet in the Capture of Tunis at La Goulette in 1574.

Starting from the conquest of Syria in 1516, the Ottoman fleet of Selim I began 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; while 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 under the command of Rodrigo Portundo near the Isle of Formentera. This was followed by the first conquest of Tunisia from Spain and the reconquest of Morea from Venice by the fleet of Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa, which 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 Venice and Habsburg Spain of Charles V to ask for the Pope to create a Holy League; which comprised 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 each other in September 1538 at the Battle of Preveza, which is generally considered the greatest Turkish naval victory in history. 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. The Ottoman naval victory at the Battle of Preveza in 1538 and the Battle of Djerba in 1560 ensured them supremacy in the Mediterranean Sea for several decades, until the Ottomans suffered a major defeat against the Europeans at the Battle of Lepanto (1571). But the defeat at Lepanto, despite being much celebrated in Europe, was only a temporary setback, as the Ottomans built an equally large fleet within a year and took back Cyprus from the Republic of Venice in 1572 (having originally conquered the island between 1570 and 1571) and Tunisia from Spain in 1574, which completed the Ottoman conquest of North Africa; as the Ottoman fleet under Turgut Reis had earlier conquered Libya in 1551, while that of Salih Reis had conquered the coasts of Morocco beyond the Strait of Gibraltar in 1553.

Operations in the Indian Ocean

Main article: Indian Ocean campaigns

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 and Hijaz on the Red Sea coast. Between 1547 and 1548, Yemen was reconquered from the Portuguese, while in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea, other important Portuguese ports such as Oman, Hormuz and Qatar were conquered in 1552. In 1565 the Aceh Sultanate in Sumatra (Indonesia) declared allegiance to the Ottoman Empire, and in 1569 the Ottoman fleet of Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis set foot on Aceh, which marked the easternmost Ottoman territorial expansion.

Operations in the Atlantic Ocean

Starting from the early 17th century, the Ottoman fleet began to venture into the Atlantic Ocean (earlier, Kemal Reis had sailed to 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, Iceland and Vestmannaeyjar. 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.

Stagnation in the 17th and 18th centuries

Ex-Voto of the capture of a Turkish galleon by Commander Boisbaudran of the Order of Malta, in 1650.

Capture of a Turkish warship in the Canal of Malta by Bailli Russo, 25 January 1652.

Ex-Voto of a Naval Battle between a Turkish ship from Algiers (front) and a ship of the Order of Malta under Langon, 1719.

In the rest of the 17th and 18th centuries, however, the operations of the Ottoman fleet were largely limited to the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. The long lasting Ottoman-Venetian War of 1648–1669 ended with Ottoman victory and the completion of the conquest of Crete. In 1708 another long lasting objective, the conquest of Oran (the final Spanish stronghold in Algeria) was accomplished. The 18th century was a period of stalemate for the Ottoman fleet, with numerous victories matched by equally numerous defeats. The important Ottoman naval victories in this period included the reconquest of Moldavia and Azov from the Russians in 1711; the reconquest of Morea from the Venetians between 1714 and 1715; the Ottoman-Venetian War of 1715 and the reconquest of Souda in Crete and the Cyclades; the Ottoman-Russian War (1738); the reconquest of Morea and Lemnos (1770) from Venice; and the defeat of the Russian fleet near Yılan Island (1787). Major defeats of the Ottoman fleet in the 18th century, on the other hand, included the Battle of Chesme (1770).

Decline in the 19th and 20th centuries

Mahmudiye (1829), built by the Imperial Naval Arsenal on the Golden Horn in Istanbul, was for many years the largest warship in the world. The 62×17×7m ship was armed with 128 cannons on 3 decks. She participated in numerous important naval battles, including the Siege of Sevastopol (1854-1855) during the Crimean War.

Nordenfelt class Ottoman submarine Abdülhamid (1886) was the first submarine in history to fire a torpedo while submerged under water. Two submarines of this class, Nordenfelt II (Abdülhamid, 1886) and Nordenfelt III (Abdülmecid, 1887) joined the Ottoman fleet. They were built in pieces by Des Vignes (Chertsey) and Vickers (Sheffield) in England, and assembled at the Taşkızak Naval Shipyard in Istanbul.

The 19th century saw further decline in Ottoman naval power, despite occasional recovery. Following the defeat against the combined British-French-Russian fleet at the Battle of Navarino in 1827, Sultan Mahmud II gave priority to develop a strong and modern Ottoman naval force. The first steam ships of the Ottoman Navy were acquired in 1828. In 1829 the world's largest warship for many years, the 62×17×7m 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.

In 1875, during the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz, the Ottoman Navy had 21 battleships and 173 other types of warships, ranking as the third largest navy in the world after the British and French navies. But the vast size of the navy was too much of a burden for the collapsing Ottoman economy to sustain. Abdülhamid II's suspicion of the reformist admirals, who supported Midhat Pasha, made things even worse, and consequently almost the entire Ottoman fleet was kept locked inside the Golden Horn for more than 3 decades, during which the ships decayed. Even the two Nordenfelt class submarines acquired by Abdülhamid II himself, Abdülhamid (1886) and Abdülmecid (1887), could seldom leave the Golden Horn due to the sultan's suspicions and distrust for a Navy-based coup against him; which eventually started to take place at the port of Selanik in around 1908.

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 during the Ottoman Naval Parade of 1910 saddened the Turks who witnessed the event, 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 their contributions. In 1910, the Ottoman Navy purchased two pre-dreadnought battleships from Germany: SMS Weißenburg, and her sister ship SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm. These ships were renamed Turgut Reis and Barbaros Hayreddin, respectively. With this public money, the Ottoman government also ordered large dreadnought battleships like Sultan Osman I and Reşadiye, but 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 renamed Yavuz Sultan Selim and light cruiser SMS Breslau renamed Midilli which entered service in the Ottoman fleet. This event significantly contributed to the decision of supporting Germany in the First World War, with whom the Ottomans sided.

The Balkan Wars, 1912 - 13 were disastrous for the Turkish Navy. A smaller Greek fleet decisively defeated two Turkish attempts to exit the Daradanelles. Greek control of the Aegean led to liberation of all Turkish-held Islands on that Sea other than those in the Italian-occupied Dodecanese. Greek control of the Aegean also prevented Turkish reinforcements to the land battles which led to one Turkish defeat after another.

Muavenet-i Milliye was a torpedo boat (in service between 1910–1923) that sank the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Goliath during the Battle of Gallipoli in World War I. Considered in the same league as the minelayer Nusret in terms of the role that she played in the naval engagements during the battle, Muavenet-i Milliye strongly influenced the course of the conflicts by generating a domino effect which caused the failure of the Allied strategy.

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 forces on land, sea and air, who were well aware that they were resisting the capture of Istanbul and the occupation of their homeland. During the battle, Hayreddin Barbarossa was sunk by the British submarine E11 on August 8, 1915. In the last year of World War I, while returning from a bombardment mission of the Allied port of Mudros on the Greek island of Lemnos, Midilli ran into a minefield between Lemnos and Gökçeada on January 20, 1918, and sank after being severely damaged by five consecutive mine hits. During the mission, Midilli, together with Yavuz Sultan Selim, had managed to sink the British warships HMS Raglan and M28, as well as a 2,000-ton transport ship, and had bombarded the port of Mudros, together with the communication posts and air fields of the Allies on the other parts of Lemnos. The battlecruiser Yavuz Sultan Selim was one of the most active Ottoman warships throughout the First World War; she bombarded numerous ports on the Black Sea and Aegean Sea, while engaging with Russian dreadnought battleships of the Imperatritsa Mariya class, and sinking a number of Russian and British warships and transport vessels.

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. After the independence of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the remaining major warships of the former Ottoman fleet, such as the battlecruiser TCG Yavuz, the pre-dreadnought battleship TCG Turgut Reis, protected cruisers TCG Hamidiye and TCG Mecidiye, light cruisers TCG Berk-i Satvet and TCG Peyk-i Şevket, destroyers TCG Samsun, TCG Bafra and TCG Taşoz, and torpedo boats TCG Burak Reis, TCG Kemal Reis, TCG İsa Reis and TCG Sakız were overhauled, repaired and modernized, while new ships and submarines were acquired.

Famous admirals

• Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa
• Turgut Reis
• Piyale Paşa
• Kemal Reis
• Piri Reis
• Seydi Ali Reis
• Salih Reis
• Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis
• Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis
• Oruç Reis
• Gedik Ahmed Paşa
• Uluç Ali Reis
• Murat Reis
• Çaka Bey

Major victories, conquests and territorial acquisitions

• Conquest of Smyrna (İzmir), Urla, Çeşme, Sığacık and Phocaea (Foça) on the Aegean coast of Anatolia by Emir Çaka Bey, construction of the first Anatolian Seljuk naval fleet of 50 vessels (33 sail ships and 17 oar ships) in that same year at the naval arsenal of İzmir, which was established by Emir Çaka Bey (1081)
• First Turkish conquests of Lesbos (1089) and Chios (1090) in the Aegean Sea by the fleet of Emir Çaka Bey
• Emir Çaka Bey's fleet defeats the Byzantine fleet near the Koyun Islands off Chios on May 19, which marks the first major Anatolian Seljuk naval victory in a sea war (1090)
• Emir Çaka Bey's fleet conquers the islands of Samos and Rhodes in the Aegean Sea (1091)
• Emir Çaka Bey's fleet conquers the strategic port city and gulf of Adramyttium (Edremit) on the Aegean coast of Anatolia and the city of Abydos on the Dardanelles Strait (1095)
• Anatolian Seljuk emperor Alaeddin Keykubad I conquers Alanya and establishes a Turkish naval arsenal there. Alanya becomes the homeport of the Turkish Mediterranean fleet. Alaeddin Keykubad I later establishes a Turkish Black Sea fleet based in Sinop, which, under the command of Emir Çoban, conquers parts of the Crimean peninsula and Sugdak on the Sea of Azov (1220–1237)
• Conquest of İmralı Island and the beginning of Ottoman presence in the Sea of Marmara (1308)
• Conquest of Mudanya by the Ottoman Turks and the first Turkish landings in Thrace, southeastern Europe (1321)
• Conquest of the strategic port city and gulf of Gemlik on the Sea of Marmara by the Ottoman Turks (1333)
• Naval victories of Umur Bey against the Byzantine and Genoese fleets off the Aegean coasts of Anatolia, Rhodes, the Dardanelles Strait, Macedonia and Morea (1334–1348)
• Conquest of the strategic port city and gulf of İzmit (Nicomedia) on the Sea of Marmara by the Ottoman Turks (1337)
• Alliance with the Byzantine Empire (1346) following the marriage between Sultan Orhan Gazi and Princess Theodora, daughter of John VI Cantacuzenus (1341). Turkish naval landings in Thrace and the Balkan peninsula for aiding the Byzantine Empire, defeat of the Serbs and Bulgarians, acquisition of the first Turkish castles in Europe (1351)
• Conquest of Üsküdar (Scutari/Chrysopolis) and Kadıköy (Chalcedon) on the Anatolian side of İstanbul, the Marmara Island, Thrace and Gallipoli (1352)
• First conquests and acquisitions in Macedonia (1373)
• First siege of Thessaloniki (1374) and the beginning of Turkish advance towards Serbia (1375), Bulgaria (1376), Albania (1383) and Bosnia-Hercegovina (1384)
• Conquest of Thessaloniki and Macedonia (1387)
• Conquest of northern Bulgaria, southern Romania and most of the Balkan peninsula (1389)
• Conquest of northern Albania and southern Montenegro (1392)
• Conquest of Albania (1396)
• Conquest of several coastal settlements on the Aegean coasts of Greece and of several Turkish beyliks (principalities) on the Black Sea coasts of Anatolia (1397)
• Conquest of several islands in the Aegean Sea (1415–1416)
• Conquest of the strategic port of Samsun in the Black Sea (1417)
• Reconquest of Albania, conquests of several coastal settlements in Morea (1423)
• Turkish-Venetian War (1423–1430)
• Conquest of the strategic port of Sinop in the Black Sea (1424)
• Conquest of İzmir from the Turkish beylik of that city (1426)
• Reconquest of Thessaloniki (1430)
• Reconquest of Albania (1448–1479)
• Conquest of Constantinople (İstanbul), Imvros (Gökçeada), Lemnos, Thasos (1453)
• Conquest of Morea and the Duchy of Athens (1458–1460)
• Conquest of the Empire of Trebizond and the Genoese colony of Amasra (1461)
• Conquest of the Genoese islands in the northern Aegean Sea, including Lesbos (1462)
• Turkish-Venetian War (1463–1479)
• Conquest of castles and forts in Albania (1466)
• Conquest of Euboea (1470)
• Conquest of Crimea (1475)
• Conquest of Venetian forts in Albania (1477–1478)
• Conquest of Georgia on the Black Sea; Kefalonia, Zakynthos (Zante) and Lefkada (Lefkas) in the Ionian Sea (1479)
• Final complete reconquest of Albania (1497)
• Conquest of Montenegro (1499)
• Ottoman–Venetian War (1499–1503)
• Battle of Zonchio (1499)
• Battle of Modon (1500)
• Reconquest of Morea (1503)
• Conquest of Moldavia (1512)
• Conquest of Syria (1516)
• Conquest of Algeria from Spain (1516–1517)
• Conquest of Egypt and the end of the Mameluke Empire (1517)
• Conquest of Rhodes from the Knights of St. John, who relocate their base first to Sicily and later to Malta (1522)
• Conquest of Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia and Bosnia (1527)
• Turkish-Spanish War near the Isle of Formentera (1529)
• First conquest of Tunisia from Spain, reconquest of Morea (1534)
• Conquest of the Duchy of Naxos, Syros, Aegina, Ios, Paros, Tinos, Karpathos, Kasos (1537)
• Battle of Preveza (1538)
• Conquest of Castelnuovo (Herceg Novi) in Dalmatia (1538)
• Conquest of Aden and Yemen from the Portuguese, Jeddah and Hijaz in Arabia (1538–1539)
• Conquest of Risan, Skiathos, Skyros, Andros and Serifos (1539)
• Reconquest of Castelnuovo (1539–1540)
• Defeat of the Spanish-Italian fleet in Algiers (1541)
• Defeat of the Spanish-Italian fleet in the Tyrrhenian Sea, assault on the Kingdom of Naples (1544)
• Reconquest of Yemen from the Portuguese (1547–1548)
• Conquest of Libya from Spain and Malta (1551)
• Defeat of the Spanish-Italian fleet near Ponza (1552)
• Conquest of Oman, Hormuz and Qatar from the Portuguese (1552)
• Conquest of Morocco (1553)
• Defeat of the Spanish-Italian fleet near Piombino (1555)
• Battle of Djerba (1560)
• Annexation of Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia, upon request by Sultan Alaaddin of Aceh who declares allegiance to the Ottoman Empire and asks for protection against Portuguese aggression (1565)
• Conquest of Chios and the end of Genoese presence in the Aegean (1566)
• First Ottoman naval forces are stationed on Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia (1569)
• Reconquest of San'a (1568), Aden (1569) and the rest of Yemen (1570)
• Battle of Gozo (1570)
• Conquest of Cyprus from the Republic of Venice (1570–1571)
• Reconquest of Dalmatia from the Republic of Venice (1571)
• Reconquest of Tunisia from Spain (1574)
• Defeat of the Portuguese fleet off the coast of Morocco (1578)
• Reconquest of Crimea and parts of Ukraine (1584)
• Defeat of the French-Maltese fleet in the Levant (1609)
• Reconquest of Azov from the Russians (1642)
• Conquest of Chania in Crete (1645)
• Conquest of Chisamo and Souda in Crete (1646)
• First siege and conquest of Heraklion (Candia) in Crete (1648)
• Turkish-Venetian War (1648–1669)
• Turkish-Venetian War (1654)
• Turkish-Venetian War (1668)
• Fourth siege and final reconquest of Heraklion (Candia) in Crete, conquest of Crete completed (1669)
• Conquest of the castles controlling the Black Sea entrance of the Dnieper River (1679)
• Turkish-Venetian War and the reconquest of Chios (1695)
• Conquest of Oran, the final Spanish stronghold in Algeria (1708)
• Reconquest of Moldavia and Azov from the Russians (1711)
• Reconquest of Morea (1714–1715)
• Turkish-Venetian War and the reconquest of Souda in Crete and the Cyclades (1715)
• Turkish-Russian War (1738)
• Reconquest of Morea and Lemnos (1770)
• Defeat of the Russian fleet near Yılan Island (1787)
• Reconquest of Egypt (1801)
• Reconquest of Medina, Mecca and Hijaz in Arabia (1812–1813)
• Defeat of the Russian forces in the Crimean War, assisted by France, the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1854–1856)
• Reconquest of the islands controlling the Black Sea entrance of the Danube River (1857)
• Reconquest of Montenegro and Shkodër (1862)
• Battle of Gallipoli (1915)
• Landing operation in northern Cyprus (1974)

Major short-term territorial acquisitions

• Capture of Morea (1446)
• First siege and capture of Otranto (1480)
• Capture of Malaga in Spain (1487)
• Capture of the Isle of Pianosa (1501)
• Capture of several towns in Sardinia (1501)
• Capture of Jijel in Algeria and Mahdiya in Tunisia (1514)
• Capture of Capo Passero in Sicily (1526)
• Capture of the Isle of Peñón (1529)
• Capture of the Isle of Cabrera (1530)
• Capture of San Lucido, Cetraro, Capri, Procida, Tunis (1534)
• Recapture of Capri (1535)
• Second siege and capture of Otranto, Castro, Ugento (1537)
• Capture of Diu in India (1538)
• Capture of the Gulf of Preveza, Isle of Lefkada, eastern Adriatic and Aegean islands belonging to the Republic of Venice, Candia in Crete (1538)
• Capture of Gozo, Pantelleria, Capraia (1540)
• Capture of Reggio Calabria, Messina, Nice, Antibes, Île Sainte-Marguerite, Monaco, San Remo, La Turbie (1543)
• Capture of Bonifacio in Corsica, Castiglione della Pescaia, Talamone, Orbetello, Grosseto, Montiano, Porto Ercole, Isle of Giglio, Ischia, Forio, and the Isle of Procida (1544)
• Capture of Capraia, Monterosso, Corniglia, Rapallo, Pegli, Levanto (1545)
• Capture of Mahdiya, Sfax, Sousse, Al Munastir in Tunisia; Laigueglia and Andora in Liguria; Gozo in Malta (1546)
• Recapture of Gozo in Malta (1547)
• Capture of Castellamare di Stabia, Pozzuoli and Procida at the Gulf of Naples (1548)
• Recapture of Mahdiya, Sousse, Al Munastir in Tunisia, Rapallo in Liguria (1550)
• Recapture of Gozo, capture of Taggia and Riva Brigoso in Liguria (1551)
• Capture of Pantelleria, Ponza, Massa Lubrense, Sorrento, Pozzuoli, Minturno, Nola (1552)
• Capture of Crotone and Castello in Calabria; Marciana Marina, Rio and Capoliveri in Elba; Bonifacio, Bastia and Calvi in Corsica; recapture of Pianosa and Capri (1553)
• Capture of Vieste near Foggia; Elba and Corsica (1554)
• Capture of Paola and Santo Noceto in Calabria, Papulonia in Elba; Bastia in Corsica; Ospedaletti in Liguria (1555)
• Capture of Bergeggi and San Lorenzo in Liguria; Gafsa in Tunisia (1556)
• Capture of Cariati in Calabria (1557)
• Capture of Gharyan, Misratah, Tagiora, Djerba, Reggio Calabria, Aeolian Islands, Massa Lubrense, Cantone, Sorrento, Minorca (1558)
• Capture of Granada in Spain; Naples in Italy and the fortresses around the city, Chiaia (1563)
• Capture of Fort St. Elmo and the Bastion of Castiglia on Fort St. Michael in Malta (1565)
• Capture of Lanzarote of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean (1585)
• Capture of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean (1617)
• Capture of Vestmannaeyjar near Iceland (1627)
• Capture of Baltimore, County Cork, in Ireland (1631)
• Capture of the Isle of Lundy in the Bristol Channel with a force of 40 ships. Lundy becomes the main base of the Ottoman marine operations in the Atlantic Ocean for the next 5 years (1655)

Major inconclusive wars

• Turkish-Portuguese Wars in the Indian Ocean (1538–1566)

Major inconclusive sieges and landings

• First Turkish landings in Attika, Morea and the Adriatic Sea (1372)
• First Turkish siege of Constantinople (1390)
• Landings at Chios, Euboea, Attika, Morea (1390–1391)
• Landings at Morea (1394)
• Second Turkish siege of Constantinople (1395)
• Third Turkish siege of Constantinople (1397)
• Landings at Thessaly, Morea, Albania and Epirus (1397–1399)
• Fourth Turkish siege of Constantinople (1400)
• Fifth Turkish siege of Constantinople (1422)
• Landings at the Dodecanese Islands (1454)
• Landings at Lepanto in Greece and Veneto in Italy (1477–1478)
• First siege of Rhodes (1480–1481)
• Landings at the Balearic Islands, Corsica and Pisa (1487–1490)
• Landings at Elche, Almeria, Malaga (1490–1495)
• Landings at the Gulf of Taranto (1496)
• Landings at Corfu (1500)
• Landings at Piombino (1501)
• Landings at the Balearic Islands and Andalusia (1501)
• Landings at Rhodes, Calabria, Sicily and Andalusia (1505)
• Landings at Sicily (1506)
• Landings at Liguria (1508 and 1509)
• Landings at Capo Passero in Sicily (1510)
• Landings at Bougie, Oran and Algiers (1510)
• Landings at Reggio Calabria (1511)
• Landings at Andalusia and Minorca (1512)
• Landings at Alicante, Malaga, Cherchell (1513–1514)
• Bombardment of Bougie, landings at Ceuta, Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Sicily (1514)
• Landings at Elba and Liguria (1516)
• Landings at Capo Limiti, Capo Rizzuto, Calabria (1517)
• Landings at Provence, Toulon and the Îles d'Hyères in France (1519)
• Landings at the Balearic Islands (1521)
• Landings at Sardinia (1525)
• Landings at Crotone, Reggio Calabria, Castignano, Capo Spartivento, Messina, Tuscany, Campania (1526)
• Landings at Italian and Spanish coastal towns (1527)
• Landings at Andalusia (1529)
• Landings at Sicily, the Balearic Islands, Marseilles, Provence, Liguria, Sardinia, Piombino (1530)
• Landings at the Isle of Favignana, Calabria, Puglia, Tripoli, Spain (1531)
• Landings at Sardinia, Bonifacio, Montecristo, Elba, Lampedusa, Messina, Calabria (1532)
• Landings at Reggio Calabria, Gaeta, Villa Santa Lucia, Sant'Isidoro, Sperlonga, Fondi, Terracina, Ostia, Ponza, Sicily, Sardinia, bombardment of the ports at the Gulf of Naples (1534)
• Landings at Spain, the Balearic Islands, Tlemcen (1535)
• Landings at Calabria and Corfu (1537)
• Landings at Crete in Greece and Gujarat in India (1538)
• Landings at Cattaro and Pesaro, Corfu, Crete (1539)
• Landings at Sicily, Corsica, Spain (1540)
• Landings at Campania, Lazio, venturing into the Tiber River near Rome (1543)
• Landings at San Remo, Borghetto Santo Spirito, Ceriale, Vado Ligure, Piombino, Civitavecchia, Sardinia, Gozo, Pozzuoli, Capo Palinuro, Catona, Fiumara, Calanna, Cariati, Lipari (1544)
• Landings at Spain, the Balearic Islands, Sicily, Liguria, Menarola, Riomaggiore, La Spezia (1545)
• Landings at Liguria, San Lorenzo al Mare (1546)
• Landings at both islands of Malta, Sicily, Aeolian Islands, Salina Island, Puglia, Salve, Calabria, Corsica (1547)
• Landings at Rapallo, San Fruttuoso, Portofino, San Remo, Corsica, Calabria (1549)
• Landings at Sardinia, Spain, Corsica, Gozo, Liguria, Mahdiya, Tunis, Djerba (1550)
• Landings at the Adriatic ports, Sicily, both islands of Malta (1551)
• Landings at Augusta and Licata in Sicily, Taormina, Gulf of Policastro, Palmi, Gulf of Naples, Sardinia, Corsica, Lazio (1552)
• Landings at Sicily, Tavolara, Sardinia, Porto Ercole, Piombino, Portoferraio (1553)
• Landings at Dalmatia, Dubrovnik, Orbetello and Tuscany (1554)
• Landings at Capo Vaticano, Ceramica, San Lucido in Calabria; Piombino in Elba; Calvi in Corsica; Sardinia; San Remo and Liguria (1555)
• Landings at Lampedusa (1556)
• Landings at the Gulf of Taranto and Puglia (1557)
• Landings at the Strait of Messina, Amalfi, Gulf of Salerno, Torre del Greco, Tuscany, Piombino, Spain (1558)
• Landings at Stromboli, Gozo, Gulf of Naples (1561)
• Siege of Oran (1562)
• Landings at Malaga, another siege on Spanish-controlled Oran and Mers-el-Kebir; landings at Liguria, Sardinia, Oristano, Marcellino, Ercolento, Puglia, Abruzzo, San Giovanni near Messina, Capo Passero in Sicily, Gozo in Malta (1563)
• Siege of Malta (1565)
• Landings at Puglia (1566)
• Landings at Sumatra in Indonesia (1569)
• Landings at Corfu (1571)
• Landings at Puglia and Corfu (1573)
• Landings at Morocco (1574)
• Landings at Calabria (1576)
• Landings at Malta and southern Morea (1614)
• Landings at the shoreline between Cadiz and Lisbon (1616)
• Landings at Sussex, Plymouth (27 ships were taken away from its port), Devon, Hartland Point, Cornwall and the other counties of western England in August (1625)
• Landings in the Northern Atlantic including the British Isles, Shetland Islands, Faroe Islands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Labrador, Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Newfoundland and Virginia (1627–1660)
• Landings at Denmark, Norway and Iceland (1627)
• Landings at England, Ireland, Denmark and Iceland (1631)
• Second siege of Heraklion (Candia) in Crete (1649)
• Landings at England, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark (1655–1660)
• Third siege of Heraklion (Candia) in Crete (1666)
• Landings at the entrance of the Dniester River and northern Crimea (1769)

Major defeats

• Battle of Lepanto (1571)
• Battle of Chesme (1770)
• Battle of Navarino (1827)

Important treaties of naval collaboration for securing maritime trade

• Treaty with the Republic of Genoa signed (1352)
• Treaty with the Republic of Ragusa signed (1365)
• Treaty with the Mameluke Empire signed (1386)
• Treaty with the Republic of Ragusa signed (1458)
• Treaty with the Republic of Venice signed (1479)
• Treaty with the Republic of Ragusa signed (1481)
• Treaty with the Republic of Venice signed (1503)
• Treaty with the Republic of Venice signed (1522)
• Treaty with France signed (1536)
• Treaty with the Republic of Venice signed (1540)
• Treaty with France signed (1569)
• Treaty with the Republic of Venice signed (1575)
• Treaty with England signed (1579)
• Treaty with France signed (1581)
• Treaty with The Netherlands signed (1612)
• Treaty with Russia signed (1774)
• Treaty with the United Kingdom signed (1809)
• Treaty with Russia signed (1829)
• Treaty with Russia signed (1833)
• London Straits Convention and the international recognition of the Ottoman Empire's right to block the Turkish Straits and refuse passage permission to foreign warships in case of a major risk to national security (1841)
• Treaty of Lausanne and the demilitarization of the Turkish Straits (1923)
• Montreux Convention recognizing Turkey's right to remilitarize the Turkish Straits and regulate sea traffic in case of natural hazard risks, or completely block it in case of a military conflict (1936)

See also

• Ertuğrul (Ottoman frigate)
• Military history of Turkey
• Military of the Ottoman Empire
• Ottoman Navy
• Turkish Navy
• Turkish military

References and sources

• The Ottomans: Comprehensive and detailed online chronology of Ottoman history in English.
• E. Hamilton Currey, Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean, London, 1910
• Bono, Salvatore: Corsari nel Mediterraneo (Corsairs in the Mediterranean), Oscar Storia Mondadori. Perugia, 1993.
• Melis, Nicola, “The importance of Hormuz for Luso-Ottoman Gulf-centred policies in the 16th century: Some observations based on contemporary sources", in R. Loureiro-D. Couto (eds.), Revisiting Hormuz - Portuguese Interactions in the Persian Gulf Region in the Early Modern Period, "Maritime Asia" 19, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian/Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2008, pp. 107–120.
• Corsari nel Mediterraneo: Condottieri di ventura. Online database in Italian, based on Salvatore Bono's book.
• 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
• Comprehensive and detailed online chronology of Ottoman history in Turkish.
• Turkish Navy official website: Historic heritage of the Turkish Navy (in Turkish)
• Turkish Navy official website: Turkish seamen in the Atlantic Ocean (in Turkish)
• Tarih Bilgi Bankası: Online history database in Turkish.
• Tarihte Bugün: Online history database in Turkish.

External links

• Official Turkish Navy Website
• Official Turkish Armed Forces Website
• Turkish Naval Museum
• Turkish Navy
• Turkish Navy History
• A Sea Empire
• Turkish Naval History

Representations in popular culture

• The Ottoman Navy, Admiral Turgut Reis, and the Siege of Malta are depicted in the novel The Religion by Tim Willocks
• The Ottoman Navy and Admiral Kemal Reis are portrayed in the novel The Sultan's Helmsman