The Capture of Mers-el-Kébir on 13 September 1505 was the first campaign carried out by the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

in its war against the Zayyanid

Kingdom of Tlemcen The Kingdom of Tlemcen or Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen () was a kingdom ruled by the Berber Zayyanid dynasty in what is now the northwest of Algeria. Its territory stretched from Tlemcen to the Chelif bend and Algiers, and at its zenith reached ...

(in modern Algeria). Mers-el-Kébir () was a roadstead open to the southwest winds, and a refuge for corsairs. The port was protected by a strong and well-armed castle, and it had already been unsuccessfully attacked by Portuguese troops in 1496 and 1501.

Background

In Spain, after the

conquest of Granada The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It ended with the defeat of G ...

and the suppression of the

Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1499–1501) The First Rebellion of the Alpujarras (; 1499–1501) were a series of uprisings by the Muslim population of the Kingdom of Granada (Crown of Castile), Kingdom of Granada, Crown of Castile (formerly, the Emirate of Granada) against their Catholi ...

, a body of opinion including the highly influential

Cardinal Cisneros Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

favoured conquering the

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n coast in order to prevent pirate attacks on the Spanish coast. The Kingdom of Tlemcen at the time was ruled by Abu Abdallah V, who was experiencing instability and weakness.

Preparations

A fleet of one hundred and seventy ships assembled in the port of Malaga to transport and supply 7000. Command at sea was held by the Catalan

Ramón de Cardona Ramon Folc de Cardona i Anglesola (Italian: ''Raimondo di Cardona'') (1467 – 10 March 1522) was a Catalan general and politician, who served as the viceroy of Naples during the Italian Wars and commanded the Spanish forces in Italy during the W ...

and command on land by Diego Fernández de Córdoba, with Mers-el-Kébir being the objective of the expedition. The navy left Malaga on August 20, 1505, but contrary winds made it return to port. She tried the start again on September 3, but for the same reason she was forced to stop in

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

. Finally, on 9 September, it managed to embark, arriving on the 11th in sight of the Mers-el-Kébir coast. The Tlemcenians, warned by spies of the fleet's departure and objectives, had concentrated their forces in the vicinity of Mers-el-Kébir. However, because of the delays caused by weather, they believed that it was heading to another destination and had dispersed.

The attack

Three carracks under the Basques Juan de Lezcano or Lazcano and

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, who had shielded their hulls with wool sacks, approached the castle as closely as possible and subjected it to intense bombardment, attracting artillery fire. The infantry disembarked in a torrential rainstorm, proceeded to take the heights near Mers-el-Kébir and dug into positions there. From here they were able to bombard the fortress below as well as the galleys in the port. The following day on September 12, the Tlemcenian cavalry assaulted the Spanish positions but were repulsed. The defenders of the castle then proposed a truce until the 13th, promising to surrender the if they did not receive help from the king of Tlemcen. The truce was accepted, and as no Tlemcenian troops appeared on September 13, the besieged with their families and possessions left, and the Spanish occupied the castle. Once they had taken positions in the castle, the Spaniards saw a large Tlemcenian army coming to the aid of the city. However, seeing the city was already lost, it retreated back to

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

. On that day, Mers-el-Kébir fell, and nearly 300 years of Spanish control followed, interrupted only being occasionally, such as in the Recapture of Oran (1708). On 24 September the fleet sailed for Malaga, leaving behind a Spanish garrison of 500 men.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mers-el-Kebir 1505 Conflicts in 1505 Sieges involving Spain Sieges involving Algeria Amphibious operations involving Spain Capture 1505 16th century in Algeria Zayyanid dynasty Battles involving the Zayyanid dynasty 16th-century sieges Attacks on castles Attacks on ports and harbours Residential building bombings in Algeria Attacks on military installations in Algeria