Kara Mehmet Pasha was an
Ottoman officer who became briefly
Kapudan Pasha
The Kapudan Pasha ( ota, قپودان پاشا, modern Turkish: ), was the Grand Admiral of the navy of the Ottoman Empire. He was also known as the ( ota, قپودان دریا, links=no, modern: , "Captain of the Sea"). Typically, he was based ...
in 1822 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 ...
.
Formerly
Master-General of the Artillery, he was given in January 1822 the command of the land troops sent to reinforce the Ottoman garrisons in revolted Greece ; he landed in
Patras
)
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at the end of February.
After the death of the then Kapudan Pasha on June 18 at the hands of
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.
Bio ...
, Kara Mehmet, still in Patras, was appointed to the post. The Ottoman fleet was sent from Istanbul through the Aegean to fetch him and he took command at the beginning of August.
The Ottoman fleet weighted anchor from Patras September 8 in order to resupply the besieged town of Nauplia, but the
operation (Sept 20 to 25) was a failure and Kara Mehmet withdrawn to
Souda Bay
Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour near the town of Souda on the northwest coast of the Greece, Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akr ...
.
After inconclusive actions in the
Cyclades
The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...
, the Ottoman fleet sheered to
Tenedos
Tenedos (, ''Tenedhos'', ), or Bozcaada in Turkish language, Turkish, is an island of Turkey in the northeastern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively, the island constitutes the Bozcaada, Çanakkale, Bozcaada district of Çanakkale Provinc ...
. There it was attacked by the Greeks on November 10, and lost a two-decker ship burnt by Kanaris. The disarrayed Turkish fleet took refuge in the Dardanelles and rejoined its base in Istanbul.
At the end of the year, Kara Mehmet was dismissed from his post and replaced by
Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha
Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha (also known as Koca Hüsrev Pasha; sometimes known in Western sources as just Husrev Pasha or Khosrew Pasha;Inalcık, Halil. Trans. by Gibb, H.A.R. ''The Encyclopaedia of Islam'', New Ed., Vol. V, Fascicules 79–80, p ...
.
[Gordon, ''History of the Greek revolution'', Volume 2, p 13]
References
{{Greek War of Independence
19th-century Ottoman military personnel
Pashas
Ottoman Empire admirals
Ottoman military personnel of the Greek War of Independence