Battle of Alborán

Coordinates: 35°55′00″N 3°02′00″W / 35.9167°N 3.0333°W / 35.9167; -3.0333
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Battle of Alboran
Part of
Ottoman-Habsburg wars

An Ottoman Galley; image taken from a miniature.
Date1 October 1540
Location, Spain
Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
Spain Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Bernardino de Mendoza (WIA) Ali Hamet (POW)
Strength
10 galleys[1] 3
galliots,
6 fustas,
2 brigantines[2]
Casualties and losses
137 killed,
500 wounded[3]
1 galley sunk,
10 ships captured,
700 killed,
437 captured,
837 slaves freed[3][4]

The battle of Alboran (

Mediterranean when a Spanish fleet under the command of Bernardino de Mendoza
destroyed an Ottoman fleet commanded by Ali Hamet, sinking a galley and capturing 10 other ships.

Background

In mid-1540 the Barbary pirate Ali Hamet, a

Vélez de la Gomera, on the Moroccan coast, where they were imprisoned until their release following a payment of 7,000 ducats.[1][4]

Battle

Bernardino de Mendoza, commander of the galleys of Spain, learned of the raid while in

board Mendoza's ships; however, a Spanish artillery salvo inflicted severe damage on his ships before they could get close enough to engage the galleys.[5]

Hamet and Caramani attempted unsuccessfully to board Mendoza's flagship. The Spanish commander, aware that the outcome of the battle depended heavily on this fight, ordered his soldiers and rowers to move to one side of the galley, raising the opposite side to act as a parapet against Hamet's galley's gunfire.[5] Then Mendoza's soldiers boarded and captured Caramani's galley, killing Caramani and the majority of his crew. Next they boarded Hamet's galley and captured it, at which point Hamet jumped into the water and swam to another galley in his fleet.[5]

A Spanish galley commanded by Pedro de Guerra sank one Ottoman galley with a single shot and captured another by boarding it.[5] The galley Santa Ana, meanwhile, was attacked by two Algerian vessels, one of which was forced to surrender, while the other escaped.[5] Hamet, who had been rescued by an Algerian galliot, was captured by Enrique Enríquez's galley while trying to escape.[3] The battle ended with an incident during which Enrique Enríquez ordered his men to fire on an Ottoman galley believing it was still in Turkish hands. However, the crew of the Santa Bárbara had already captured the galley; seven Spanish died and twelve were injured.[3]

Aftermath

Of the 16 Ottoman ships, ten were captured and one sunk. More than 700 Turks, including all the captains, were killed. In addition, 427 of them were captured and 837 Christian slaves were freed. The Spanish, meanwhile, had 137 dead and about 500 wounded, including Bernardino de Mendoza, who was wounded in the head by a

harquebus shot. To celebrate the victory a great procession was organized in Málaga, in which the freed prisoners, the crews of the Spanish galleys, their captains, and Bernardo de Mendoza himself participated.[6] Shortly after the Emperor Charles V was informed of the victory by the Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, who recommended the Emperor thank God for the victory.[6]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Duro p. 251
  2. ^ a b Duro p. 250
  3. ^ a b c d Duro p. 253
  4. ^ a b Bigelow p. 225
  5. ^ a b c d e Duro p. 252
  6. ^ a b Duro p. 254

References

  • Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1895). Armada Española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón (in Spanish). Vol. I. Madrid, Spain: Est. tipográfico "Sucesores de Rivadeneyra".
  • .

35°55′00″N 3°02′00″W / 35.9167°N 3.0333°W / 35.9167; -3.0333