The Battle of Cape Celidonia took place on 14 July 1616 during the
Ottoman-Habsburg struggle for the control of the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
when a small Spanish fleet under the command of
Francisco de Rivera y Medina cruising off
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
was attacked by an Ottoman fleet that vastly outnumbered it. Despite this, the Spanish ships, mostly
galleon
Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch W ...
s, managed to repel the Ottomans, whose fleet consisted mainly of
galleys, inflicting heavy losses.
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
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
ing against Ottoman vessels and ports in the area between Cyprus and the region of
Çukurova. It was composed of 5
galleon
Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch W ...
s and a
patache
A patache (occasionally "patax" or "''pataje''") is a type of sailing vessel with two masts, very light and shallow, a sort of cross between a brig and a schooner, which originally was a warship, being intended for surveillance and inspection ...
. 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
A patache (occasionally "patax" or "''pataje''") is a type of sailing vessel with two masts, very light and shallow, a sort of cross between a brig and a schooner, which originally was a warship, being intended for surveillance and inspection ...
''Santiago'' under Gazarra. Aboard the ships were about 1,600 Spanish soldiers, of whom 1,000 were
musketeers.
The Spanish fleet sailed to the island of Cyprus, then under
Ottoman rule
Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to:
Governments and dynasties
* Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924
* Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...
, where Francisco de Rivera ordered that land be sighted prior to initiating of the cruise. During the mission 16 merchant
caramoussals were captured by Rivera's fleet off Cape Celidonia, as well as an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
privateer in
Famagusta and a large number of minor vessels at sea.
[Fernández Duro, p. 106] In addition, ten warships were sunk or burnt in the port of Salinas, whose defenses were also destroyed by a landing party which suffered no loss.
The Ottoman governor of Cyprus, who had been rapidly informed regarding the Spanish activities, called for help from the
Ottoman navy. Rivera, warned of the relief force thanks to the capture of a merchant vessel coming from
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
, decided to wait for his pursuers off Cape Celidonia in order to return to
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
with a great victory.
A Turkish fleet of 55 galleys with about 275 guns and 12,000 fighting men on board appeared off the cape few days later, on 14 July.
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
vanguard
The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force.
History
The vanguard derives fr ...
, being followed by the ''Carretina'', the ''Almiranta'', and the patache ''Santiago''.
[Rodríguez González, p. 313] The other two ships remained on standby. Their heavy artillery fire kept the Turkish vessels at bay until sunset. The attackers then withdrew to their initial positions with eight galleys about to sink and many others damaged.
The attack was resumed the next morning, when, after a night
war council, the Ottomans attacked in two groups which separately attempted to capture the Capitana (or
flagship) and the Almiranta (or secondary ship). After approaching inside the range of the Spanish
muskets, the galleys were subjected to the heavy gunfire of the entire Spanish flotilla. Unable to board the Spanish ships, the Ottoman force withdrew in the evening with another 10 galleys heeling over.
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
blind spot. Nevertheless, the Spanish commander, who had foreseen such a possibility, ordered that the ''Santiago'' move to his ship's bow. This maneuver exposed the Turkish galleys to more heavy gunfire which inflicted severe damage, finally forcing the Ottoman force to withdraw at 3:00 pm with another galley sunk, two dismasted, and 17 others severely damaged or heeling over.
[Rodríguez González, p. 314]
Aftermath
The Turkish fleet suffered heavy losses, with 10 galleys sunk and another 23 disabled. 1,200
Janissaries and 2,000 sailors and rowers were killed.
The Spanish suffered 34 dead and 93 wounded as well as damage to the rigging of the ''Concepción'' and the ''Santiago'', which had to be towed by the other ships. For his success Rivera was promoted to Admiral by King
Philip III, who also rewarded him with the habit of the
Order of Santiago
The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" (St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgri ...
.
The soldiers and sailors of the fleet were also recognized by the
Duke of Osuna
Duke of Osuna is a Spanish noble title that was first awarded in 1562 by King Philip II of Spain to Pedro Girón de la Cueva, (Osuna, Seville, 29 July 1537 – 1590). Pedro was also Viceroy of Naples, (1582–1586), Ambassador in Portugal and ...
. Some time later the Spanish playwright and poet Don
Luís Vélez de Guevara
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...
wrote the comedy ''"El asombro de Turquía y valiente toledano"'' ("the wonder of Turkey and the courageous Toledoan") to commemorate the battle.
Notes
References
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{{Spanish Empire
Cape Celidonia
Cape Celidonia
Cape Celidonia
Cape Celidonia
1616 in the Ottoman Empire