The History of the Maritime Wars of the Turks. Chapters I. to IV.Kâtip Çelebi
History
The History of the Maritime Wars of the Turks. Chapters I. to IV.
Kâtip Çelebi
Turkey -- History -- 1453-1683; Turkey -- History, Naval
About this time information was received that the Spanish, Papal,
and Venetian fleets had assembled at Corfu, and attacked Prevesa;
whereupon Khair-ad-din sent twenty small privateers to that quarter,
which, on reaching Zante, came in sight of forty guard ships. These
latter immediately returned to their fleet and gave information that
Barbarossa was in the neighbourhood. The enemy then left Prevesa; which
circumstance being made known to Khair-ad-din, when he was near Motone,
he took in water at Helomej, and proceeded thence to Cephalonia, where
he landed his men and plundered the surrounding villages. Crossing
thence to Prevesa, the castle of which had been much injured by the
enemy’s cannon, he was preparing to besiege it, when he received
reinforcements during the night from Santa Maura. With this assistance
he entered the fortress, many of the infidels being slain in the
assault: and having planted his great guns, the infidels, exhausted
and terrified, left the place.[41] The pasha then ordered his troops
to repair the fortress; and in the mean time sent over a few private
vessels to the infidel coasts to obtain information. These on their
return reported that the Spanish, Papal, Portuguese and Venetian fleets
had assembled at Corfu. This intelligence was immediately forwarded
to the sultan, who was then on an expedition into Boghdan (Moldavia).
About the middle of the month Jemazi-al-avul the fleets of these
accursed infidels arrived and anchored about two miles from Prevesa.
THE NUMBER OF THE INFIDELS’ SHIPS.
Andrea Doria had fifty-two galleys; the Venetian general, seventy;
the Popes admiral, thirty; and the lieutenant of the Grand-Master of
Rhodes, ten. The Spaniards and Portuguese had eighty barges, and the
Venetians ten krakas, each of which contained two thousand arms of
different sorts, and was equal to fifty galleys. Andrea Doria’s own
ship was a huge galleon, with arms and ammunition beyond computation.
Besides these there were a few barges from different places; the
whole amounting to one hundred and sixty-two galleys, one hundred and
forty barges, and three hundred other ships, which, with the small
privateers, formed a fleet of upwards of six hundred sail.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account