Kemal Reis

Naval mission to Spain

Admiral of the Ottoman Navy

Ottoman-Venetian Wars

In January 1499 Kemal Reis set sail from Constantinople with a force of 10 galleys and 4 other types of ships, and in July 1499 met with the huge Ottoman fleet which was sent to him by Davud Pasha and took over its command in order to wage a large scale war against the Republic of Venice. The Ottoman fleet consisted of 67 galleys, 20 galliots and circa 200 smaller vessels. In August 1499 Kemal Reis defeated the Venetian fleet under the command of Antonio Grimani at the Battle of Zonchio which is also known as the Battle of Sapienza of 1499 or the First Battle of Lepanto and was a part of the Ottoman-Venetian Wars of 1499-1503. It was the first naval battle in history with cannons used on ships, and took place on four separate days: on August 12, 20, 22 and 25, 1499. After reaching the Ionian Sea with the large Ottoman fleet, Kemal Reis encountered the Venetian fleet of 47 galleys, 17 galliots and circa 100 smaller vessels under the command of Antonio Grimani near Cape Zonchio and won an important victory. During the battle Kemal Reis sank the galley of Andrea Loredan, a member of the influential Loredan family of Venice. Antonio Grimani was arrested on September 29 but was eventually released. Grimani later became the Doge of Venice in 1521. The Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II gifted 10 of the captured Venetian galleys to Kemal Reis, who stationed his fleet at the island of Cefalonia between October and December, 1499.

In December 1499 the Venetians attacked Lepanto with the hope of regaining their lost territories in the Ionian Sea. Kemal Reis set sail from Cefalonia and retook Lepanto from the Venetians. He stayed in Lepanto between April and May 1500, where his ships were repaired by an army of 15,000 Ottoman craftsmen brought from the area. From there Kemal Reis set sail and bombarded the Venetian ports on the island of Corfu, and in August 1500 he once again defeated the Venetian fleet at the Battle of Modon which is also known as the Second Battle of Lepanto. Kemal Reis bombarded the fortress of Modon from the sea and captured the town. He later engaged with the Venetian fleet off the coast of Coron and captured the town along with a Venetian brigantine. From there Kemal Reis sailed towards the Island of Sapientza (Sapienza) and sank the Venetian galley "Lezza". In September 1500 Kemal Reis assaulted Voiussa and in October he appeared at Cape Santa Maria on the Island of Lefkada before ending the campaign and returning to Istanbul in November. With the Battle of Modon, the Ottoman fleet and army quickly overwhelmed most of the Venetian possessions in Greece. Modon and Coron, the "two eyes of the Republic", were lost. Ottoman cavalry raids reached Venetian territory in northern Italy, and, in 1503, Venice again had to seek peace, recognizing the Ottoman's gains.

In January 1501 Kemal Reis set sail from Constantinople with a fleet of 36 galleys and fustas. In February 1501 he landed at the Island of Euboea and at Nafplion before heading towards Corfu in March and from there to the Tyrrhenian Sea where he captured the Island of Pianosa along with many prisoners. In April 1501 with a fleet of 60 ships he landed at Nafplion and Monemvasia, causing the Venetian regional commander based at Corfu to call back the Venetian ships heading towards Lebanon and the Levant in order to strengthen the defenses of the Repubblica Serenissima's remaining strongholds on Morea. In May 1501, with a force of 8 galliots and 13 fustas, he escorted the cargo ships carrying construction material for strengthening the Ottoman fortresses on the islands of Chios and Tinos, where he captured the galley of Girolamo Pisani, the local Venetian commander, including the official standard of San Marco (St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice) along with another Venetian galley named "Basadonna". From there he sailed to the port of Zonchio, near Navarino, with a force of 5 galliots and 14 fustas. The Ottoman forces landed there and captured the Venetian castle and the nearby settlements after a siege which lasted less than 10 hours. Kemal Reis also captured 3 Venetian galleys, a Venetian caravelle and several other local ships which were docked at the port of Zonchio. He took these ships first to Modon and later to the Island of Aegina, before sailing towards Euboea. He later captured Navarino from the Venetians, adding another important port to the Ottoman Empire. In June 1501 Kemal Reis sailed to the Adriatic Sea and strengthened the Ottoman defenses at Voiussa and Vlorë.

Operations in the West Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean

After leaving Valencia, still in August 1501, Kemal Reis headed south and bombarded the coastal defenses of Andalucia before landing his troops, where the Ottomans raided several ports and towns. Kemal Reis later sailed westwards and passed the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Atlantic Ocean, where he and his men raided the Atlantic coasts of the Iberian peninsula. From there Kemal Reis sailed southwest and landed on several of the Canary Islands, where the Ottomans faced moderate opposition from the Spanish forces. Piri Reis used the occasion, as in other voyages with his uncle, to draw his famous portolan charts which were later to become a part of the renowned Kitab-ı Bahriye (Book of Navigation). Kemal Reis later turned eastwards, where he followed the Atlantic coastline of Morocco and re-entered the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar, landing on several ports of Morocco and Algeria on the way. From there Kemal Reis headed further east and captured several Genoese ships off the coast of Tripoli in Libya. He also intercepted several Venetian galleys in the area before sailing back to Constantinople.

Return to the East Mediterranean

In March 1503 Kemal Reis set sail from Constantinople with his new ships and reached Gallipoli where he took over the command of the Ottoman fleet that was based there. However, he was caught by a severe illness and had to return to Constantinople for treatment, which lasted a long time and caused him to remain inactive between November 1503 and March 1505.

In March 1505 Kemal Reis was appointed with the task of intercepting the Knights of St. John in Rhodes who caused serious damage on Ottoman shipping routes off the coasts of Anatolia, and he set sail from Gallipoli with a force of 3 galleys and 17 fustas, heading first towards the Island of Kos, which he had earlier captured from the Knights, with the aim of organizing an assault on their base in nearby Rhodes. In May 1505 Kemal Reis assaulted the coasts of Rhodes and landed a large number of Ottoman troops on the island, where they bombarded the castle of the Knights from land and took control of several settlements. From there Kemal Reis sailed to the islands of Tilos and Nisyros where he bombarded the fortresses of the Knights from the sea. Still in May 1505 Kemal Reis captured the Island of Lemnos and assaulted the Island of Chios, before returning to Modon in July 1505.

Return to the West Mediterranean and Spain

In January 1506 he made the Island of Djerba his new base and sailed to Spain, where he once again landed at the coasts of Andalucia and bombarded the ports of Almeria and Malaga. He also transported the final remnants of the surviving Muslims and Jews who had to suffer inhuman treatments since the Spanish Inquisition of 1492 and brought them to Constantinople.

In May 1506 Kemal Reis, commanding a force of 8 galliots and fustas, returned to the Aegean Sea, and in June 1506 landed at the Island of Leros with a force of 500 janissaries. There he assaulted the Venetian castle under the command of Paolo Simeoni. Throughout June 1506 he raided the Dodecanese Islands before sailing back to the West Mediterranean with a fleet of 22 ships (including 3 large galleys and 11 fustas) where he landed on Sicily and assaulted the coastal settlements. There he was confronted by the forces of the Viceroy of Sicily who was an ally of Spain. In September 1506 Kemal Reis confronted a Spanish fleet for defending Djerba and captured a Spanish galley during combat. In October 1506 he landed at Trapani in Sicily and burned the Genoese ships at the port, whose crewmen were however released because they had no experience of naval warfare and were not deemed useful. He later bombarded the Venetian galley under the command of Benedetto Priuli. He responded to the cannon fire from the fortress of Trapani with the cannons on his ships. He later sailed to the Island of Cerigo in the Ionian Sea with a force of 3 galleys and 2 fustas, and exchanged fire with the Venetian fleet under the command of Girolamo Contarini. He later sailed back to Constantinople.

Later operations in the East Mediterranean

Final missions and death

In early 1511, after passing the lands of the Duchy of Naxos and being sighted for the last time in December 1510, 27 ships of the Ottoman cargo fleet were wrecked by a severe storm in the Mediterranean Sea, including the ship of Kemal Reis, who died with his men.

Legacy

Piri Reis wrote this poem for his uncle, from whom he learned so much, in the opening section of his famous Kitab-ı Bahriye (Book of Navigation):

Good friend, I want you

To remember us in your prayers,

And remember Kemal Reis, our master,

May his soul be content!

He had perfect knowledge of the seas

And knew the science of navigation.

He knew innumerable seas;

No one could stop him...

We sailed the Mediterranean together

And saw all its great cities.

We went to Frankish lands

And defeated the infidel.

One day an order from

Sultan Bayezid arrived.

"Tell Kemal Reis to come to me,"

It said, "and advise me on affairs of the sea."

So in 1495, the year of this command,

We returned to our country.

By the sultan's command we set out

And won many victories...

Kemal Reis sailed hoping to come back,

But was lost at sea.

Everyone once spoke of him;

Now even his name is forgotten...

The angel of death caught him

While he was serving Sultan Bayezid.

May God give peace to those

Who remember Kemal Reis with a prayer.

Kemal died and went to the next world

And we found ourselves alone in this.

See also

References and sources

Representations in Popular Culture

Category:1450s births Category:1511 deaths Category:People from Çanakkale Province Category:Privateers Category:Ottoman Empire admirals Category:Ottoman sailors Category:History of the Ottoman Empire Category:15th century in Italy Category:16th century in Italy Category:15th century in Spain Category:16th century in Spain Category:Military history of Spain Category:Military history of France Category:Ottoman Greece Category:Piri Reis Category:15th-century Ottoman people Category:16th-century Ottoman people Category:Privateers