Battle of Cape Celidonia
Battle of Cape Celidonia | |||||||
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Part of Ottoman-Habsburg wars | |||||||
Spanish galleons fighting off Ottoman galleys. Oil on canvas by Juan de la Corte (1597–1660), Naval Museum of Madrid. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Habsburg Spain | Ottoman Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Francisco de Rivera | Bey of Rhodes | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
5 galleons 1 patache 1,600 soldiers[1] |
55 galleys 12,000 soldiers[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
34 killed 93 wounded[2] |
10 galleys sunk[3] 23 galleys damaged 3,200 killed[4] |
The Battle of Cape Celidonia took place on 14 July 1616 during the
Background
In mid-1616 a Spanish fleet under the command of Captain Don Francisco de Rivera y Medina sailed from the Spanish Kingdom of Sicily to Eastern Mediterranean waters in order to undertake privateering against Ottoman vessels and ports in the area between Cyprus and the region of Çukurova. It was composed of 5 galleons and a patache. These ships were the 52-gun Concepción, flagship of Rivera; the 34-gun Almirante, commanded by alférez Serrano; the 27-gun Buenaventura, under Don Ínigo de Urquiza; the 34-gun Carretina, commanded by Balmaseda; the 30-gun San Juan Bautista, commanded by Juan Cereceda; and the 14-gun patache Santiago under Gazarra. Aboard the ships were about 1,600 Spanish soldiers, of whom 1,000 were musketeers.[1]
The Spanish fleet sailed to the island of Cyprus, then under
Battle
The battle began at 9 am when the Ottoman galleys moved toward the Spanish ships and opened fire. Previously they had formed up into a huge crescent, designed to encircle the Spanish ships. To avoid his ships becoming separated and overwhelmed individually in the light wind conditions, de Rivera ordered his ships join each other end to end with chains. The Concepción stood at the
The attack was resumed the next morning, when, after a night
That night a new council of war took place during which the Turks decided to resume the action at dawn. After a speech that boosted their morale, the Ottomans attacked with great resolve and managed to approach Rivera's flagship from a more favorable angle in order to exploit her
Aftermath
The Turkish fleet suffered heavy losses, with 10 galleys sunk and another 23 disabled. 1,200
Notes
References
- Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (2006). El gran duque de Osuna y su marina: jornadas contra turcos y venecianos (1602–1624) (in Spanish). Spain: Editorial Renacimiento. ISBN 978-84-8472-126-0.
- Rodríguez González, Agustín Ramón (2004). Lepanto, la batalla que salvó a Europa (in Spanish). Spain: Grafite Ediciones. ISBN 978-84-96281-16-5.
- Linde, Luís M. (2005). Don Pedro Girón, duque de Osuna: la hegemonía española en Europa a comienzos del siglo XVII (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Encuentro. ISBN 978-84-7490-762-9.