The Battle of Samos ( el, Ναυμαχία της Σάμου) was a naval battle fought on August 5–17, 1824 off the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

island of

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a sepa ...

during the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

Background

The island of Samos, under its leader,

Lykourgos Logothetis Lykourgos Logothetis ( el, Λυκούργος Λογοθέτης, 10 February 1772 – 25 May 1850 (O.S.)), born Georgios Paplomatas, was a Samian who became the island's leader during the Greek War of Independence. The son of a wealthy mercha ...

, had successfully rebelled against the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

in 1821, and established its own autonomous government. The island's position, however, a few miles off the

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

n coast, made it vulnerable to a potential Ottoman attack. In the summer of 1824, following the destruction of Psara, the Ottoman fleet and troops assembled on the Anatolian coast, with the intention of capturing the island. Anxious to avoid repeating the failure to protect Psara, the Greek fleet, under Admiral Georgios Sachtouris, assembled to guard the island. After some minor engagements on the previous days, the decisive battle occurred on August 17.T. Gordon, ''History of the Greek Revolution'', T2 pp. 147–148

Battle

The Ottomans attempted to drive the Greek forces from their position in the straits, an Ottoman frigate began the cannonade, while the Ottoman fleet attempted to pass between the Anatolian coast and the Greek fleet's left-wing. At ten o'clock in the morning, the Greek

fireship A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...

s, including one under the celebrated

Konstantinos Kanaris Konstantinos Kanaris ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Κανάρης, ; c. 17901877), also anglicised as Constantine Kanaris or Canaris, was a Greek admiral, Prime Minister, and a hero of the Greek War of Independence.Woodhouse, p. 129. Biog ...

, began their approach towards an Ottoman frigate, the first fireship attempting to assail her was thwarted, despite this the fireship of Kanaris launched its own attack, the Ottoman ship attempted to avoid it to no avail. As the fireship reached the Ottoman frigate, the Ottoman crew abandoned ship, jumping into the sea, the flames reached the

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

of the ship causing it to explode, the explosion also caused much debris which destroyed and damaged other ships in the proximity, as well as causing casualties to men on shore. After witnessing the destruction of their frigate the Ottomans suspended any further actions for a short while. The Ottomans would renew their assault and through the course of the battle the Greeks would destroy two more Ottoman vessels, a Tunisian brig of war, and Tripolitanian Corvette. The Ottomans suffered fatal losses totaling three fine ships, 100 cannons, and at least 1,000 men lost. Greek casualties amounted to three dead and six spent fireships. The Ottoman troops encamped on shore who witnessed the battle saw desertions and a decline in moral.

Aftermath

Together with the victory at the strait of Gerontas soon after, the battle of Samos ensured the safety of the island at that time. However, it was not included in independent Greece; rather, it became an autonomous principality under Ottoman suzerainty until the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samos, Battle of Conflicts in 1824 Naval battles involving the Ottoman Empire 1824 in Greece Naval battles of the Greek War of Independence History of Samos August 1824 events