Battle of Girolata

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Battle of Girolata
Part of the Ottoman–Habsburg wars

Corsica shown in red
Date15 June 1540
Location
Gulf of Girolata, near Osani (Corsica)
Result Spanish-Genoese victory
Belligerents
Spanish Empire
 Republic of Genoa		 Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Giannettino Doria
Spain Berenguer de Requesens
 Dragut (POW)
Strength
21 galleys[1] 11 galleys
Casualties and losses
Minor 11 galleys captured,
1,200 prisoners,
1,200
galley slaves freed[1][2]

The Battle of Girolata was a naval action fought between Genoese, Spanish, and Ottoman ships on 15 June 1540 in the Gulf of Girolata, on the west coast of the island of Corsica, amidst the war between

Adriatic sea the year before. As the crews of the Ottoman warships were ashore, distributing the booty from recent raids, the Spanish-Genoese fleet easily overtook them, taking all 11 Ottoman galleys and making 1,200 prisoners, among them Dragut, who was carried to Genoa and put, together with his captains, to row in Andrea Doria
's galleys.

Background

In 1538 the Ottoman fleet, led by Hayreddin Barbarossa, dealt a decisive blow to the

Paxos, near Corfu. The Venetians could not retaliate, as they signed a peace treaty with the Sultan shortly afterwards.[3]

Andrea Doria, portrait by Jan Matsys (1555). Galleria di Palazzo Bianco, Genoa.

In response to the Ottoman threat, Charles V's admiral

Knights of Malta, to protect Sicily with 17.[1]

It was Gianettino's and Requesens' squadron that found the trail of Dragut's galleys.

Cape Corso and, later, that his squadron was anchored at the Gulf of Girolata.[1]

Battle

Battle of Girolata is located in Corsica
Battle of Girolata
class=notpageimage|
The location of the Gulf of Girolata in Corsica

The Ottoman squadron had set anchor at the Gulf of Girolata to distribute the booty from the recent raid. Dragut had chosen the place because it was deserted and far from the common sailing routes. As such, he left no ship to guard the entrance of the gulf.[2] On arriving in the waters nearby, Gianettino Doria sent his relative Giorgio Doria into the gulf with 6 galleys and a small rowing frigate in order to identify the anchored galleys.[1] Accounts of the battle's course differ. According to Cesáreo Fernández Duro and Edmond Jurien de La Gravière, the Ottoman seamen and soldiers were ashore, sleeping under the trees or having a meal, when the arrival of the Spanish galleys took them by surprise.[2][3] According to De La Gravière, 600 Ottomans fled to the surrounding mountains before the battle actually started and Dragut barely had time to embark and fire a single volley before the Genoese and Spanish boarded his flagship and his other galleys. At the first shots, many of his men, whether Turks, Moors, or European renegades, jumped overboard to escape inland.[3]

The Gulf of Girolata in 2007.

windward. Dragut then tried to escape by turning around his ships, but as the Spanish galleys came under his stern, he decided to try to break through them.[1] Then, however, a single shot from Gianettino's galley bow gun inflicted serious damage to his flagship that she nearly sank. Losing hope about the prospect of escaping, most of the Ottoman seamen and soldiers jumped overboard to gain the beach and save themselves inland.[1]

Aftermath

The Spanish fleet captured all 11 Ottoman galleys, two of which were the Venetian Moceniga and Bibiena, which the Ottomans had captured at the Battle of Preveza.

ducats. Later, deemed a mistake, Doria granted Dragut his freedom in the hope of winning favour if one of his nephews fell into Ottoman hands.[5]

Taking advantage of Dragut's defeat, Andrea Doria sailed from Messina that summer leading 51 galleys and more than 30

Tunis, seizing the strongholds of Monastir, Sousse, Hammamet, and Kelibia, which they returned to the Hafsid King Muhammad V.[2] Barbarossa's privateering campaign was further checked when, on 1 October, the Turkish privateers were defeated again by Spanish ships at the Battle of Alborán, in the waters east of the Strait of Gibraltar.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Guglielmotti, Alberto P.: La guerra dei pirati e la marina pontificia dal 1500 al 1560, Vol. 2. Florence: Successori Le Monnier, 1876, pp. 88–91
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Fernández Duro, Cesáreo: Armada Española (desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón, Chapter XVIII, Jornada de Argel. History and Naval Culture Institute, pp. 249–250
  3. ^ a b c d e De La Gravière, Jurien: Les corsaires barbaresques et la marine de Soliman le Grand. Paris: E. Plon, Nourrit et cie., 1887, pp. 22–26.
  4. ^ a b c De Bourdeille de Brantôme, Pierre: Mémoires. In: Collection Universelle des Mémoires Particuliers Relatifs à l'Histoire de France, 67. Paris: Impr. L. Orizet, 1806, pp. 94–95.
  5. ISBN 0871691612
    , p. 532.
  6. ^ De Carranza, Fernando: La guerra santa por mar de los corsarios berberiscos. Ceuta: Impr. Africa, 1931, p. 61.

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