Several ships damaged 400 killed 800 wounded[1][4]
Two galleys and five carracks sunk or captured (Spanish and Italian sources)[5][6][1] 128 ships sunk or captured (Turkish sources)[7] 13 ships sunk and 36 captured (English sources)[4] 3,000 prisoners[1][4]
Before Doria arrived, Grimani attempted to land troops near the Fortress of Preveza but suffered significant casualties in an encounter with Ottoman forces under Murat Reis, causing a retreat to Corfu, where the Holy League assembled its fleet. Barbarossa was at Kos in the Aegean Sea at that time, but soon arrived at Preveza with the rest of the Ottoman fleet after capturing Kefalonia. Sinan Reis, an Ottoman lieutenant, suggested landing troops at Actium on the Gulf of Arta, near Preveza. Barbarossa initially opposed this idea, though it later provedd important in securing Ottoman victory.
Previous movements
On September 25, after having located Barbarossa, Doria stationed his armada in front of the mouth of the gulf, where the two fleets observed each other in a stalemate.[13] Barbarossa could not leave, as he would have been overwhelmed, and the surrounding land was under Ottoman control, so his armada could wait safely. Doria would have won in a direct battle, but he could not assault the gulf as its mouth acted as a bottleneck for his ships. Furthermore, he was unable to manoeuvre his sailing ships, whose artillery he relied on, as strong winds threatened to drive the ships onto the hostile coast if they approached further.[13]
Gulf of Arta, showing the Christian fleet outside and the Ottoman fleet inside.
The Holy League were forced to disembark their landing forces and eliminate the Ottoman artillery before installing their own and turning the gulf against the Ottomans. A plan involving the Spanish Marine Infantry was considered and rejected due to Grimani's previous failure and because explorers could not find anywhere to safely disembark.[14] The Ottomans attempted to build additional fortifications but were prevented by the artillery fire from the coast. This was the only exchange that day as both sides did not want to risk making a mistake.[13]
Deployment of the opposing fleets.
During the night of September 27, Doria ordered his fleet to sail 30 miles south towards Sessola, near Leucade, and raid Lepanto and nearby Turkish positions to force Barbarossa to come out.[15] Barbarossa quickly ordered his fleet into a Y-shaped formation, with himself in the center, alongside Sinan Reis, Cafer Reis, Şaban Reis and his son Hasan Reis. Seydi Ali Reis commanded the left wing and Salih Reis commanded the right wing. Turgut Reis, accompanied by Murat Reis, Güzelce Mehmet Reis and Sadık Reis, commanded the rear wing with six large galliots.
Battle
Christian sources provide mutually incompatible accounts on the movements and intentions of Doria, Grimani and Cappello during the battle. Venetian sources, the mainstream version, portray Doria as causing defeat through inaction, while Hispano-Genoese accounts blame Grimani and Cappello for refusing to follow Doria's battle plan.[14]
Venetian account
Map showing the positions of fleets in the battle.
Venetian accounts state that Doria believed Barbarossa was too close to the Ottoman-controlled shore, so he did not order an attack. Cappello and Grimani disagreed with Doria and pushed for an attack. After three hours of discussion, Doria relented, ordering the galleys to turn north, where they would reunite with sailing ships. Weather disrupted his strategy, as a lack of wind caused the sailing ships to lag behind, giving Barbarossa an opportunity to attack them without leaving the Ottoman shore. The captains called for immediate help to ships, which were being attacked by the more mobile Ottoman galleys.[16]
Doria headed with the Christian galleys towards Barbarossa, trying to trap the Ottomans between them and the sailing ships. However, upon reaching the battle, he turned away, believing Barbarossa was still too close to the coast, and hoping to act as bait for Barbarossa to turn towards. Cappello, having recognised this, did not push Barbarossa further.[17] Cappello and Grimani grew weary from tactical manoeuvring, so they pushed for Doria to fight, even boarding his flagship.[18][15] Doria refused, unsuccessfully faking an attack twice before the night fell. He ordered all Christian vessels to escape the next morning.[18]
Imperial sources state that Doria ordered the fleet to be ready after seeing Barbarossa leaving Arta. He sent a messenger on a brigantine to call Grimani and Cappello, communicating his intent to attack and asking if they were ready, which they both confirmed. Grimani thought it was risky to frontally engage Barbarossa, but was willing to do so. Doria ordered the sailing ships to head to the Ottoman left wing, intending to cut them from the coast, while the Venetian and Papal galleys followed them closer to the coast, enveloping any Ottomans who attempted to do the same to the sailing ships. Despite Doria ordering the Christian galleys thrice, they did not move.[19]
As the Ottoman galleys had surrounded the sailing ships, the Doria dispatched the Spanish Viceroy of Sicily, Ferrante Gonzaga, in another brigantine to urge Cappello and Grimani to follow his strategy. The allied captains replied evasively.[20] Grimani changed his mind and claimed he lacked superior orders from the Republic of Venice to engage in direct combat.[19] Doria was only followed by nine allied galleys. He sailed around the formation, calling the rest to regroup, but many became entangled in the attempt, which would have made them easy prey had the sailing ships not been between them and Barbarossa. Doria ordered a retreat at nightfall.[20]
Fights
Machín de Munguía's vessel fighting in Preveza.
Regardless of the cause, the sailing ships were under attack. The huge Venetian flagship Candia or Galeone di Venezia, captained by Alessandro Condalmiero, was left stranded 4 miles off the coast and 10 miles off Sessola. Condalmiero was surrounded by dozens of Ottoman galleys; he initially fended them off with heavy artillery, but Barbarossa's ships managed to position themselves on the ship's blind spots and attack. Condalmiero attempted to turn around to prevent this. The ship fought fiercely, waiting for galleys that did not arrive, ending up damaged, but not captured, even after Barbarossa's flagship joined the fray.[16]
The Spanish and Genoese sailing ships fought back through sheer firepower. The two main flagships, captained by Francisco Sarmiento and Juan Villegas de Figueroa, defended against multiple Ottoman attacks. Figueroa's ship was eventually overwhelmed, forcing his marine infantry to fight in a last stand until the vessel sank. Another ship, captained by Machín de Munguía with marine company, faced ozens of Turkish galleys, becoming dismasted and severely damaged, although ultimately escaping unboarded.[21] Several ships fired towards the attackers, while others lost hope of aid and abandoned the ships.[16]
Christian sources state that the Christians had lost two galleys and five ships by the end of the day,[5][1] while Turkish sources state that the Ottomans had sunk, destroyed or captured 128 ships, taking approximately 3,000 prisoners.[7] Others sources state that there were 13 destroyed ships, 36 captured and 3,000 prisoners.[4] The Ottomans kept all of their ships, but 400 died and 800 were wounded.
Aftermath
There was large dissent within the Holy League due to their actions in battle. Due to prior hostility between Venice and Genoa, Cappello accused Doria of sabotaging the battle to not risk Hispano-Genoese ships, saving them for future operations outside the League, while leaving the ships of Venice to be destroyed.[22] Chroniclers focused on Doria's inexplicable decision to not attack despite his superior fleet.[23]Sephardic scholar Joseph ha-Kohen proposed that God confounded Doria's mind to punish him for mistreating Jewish prisoners in his campaigns.[24]
Doria insisted for the Holy League to continue the campaign and capture the fortress of Castelnuovo, present day Herceg Novi, Montenegro, to form a beachhead for an invasion of the Ottoman Balkans. Spaniards and Venetians fought over who would garrison Castelnuovo. To ease tensions, Charles V offered Venice permanent control over the fortress, but was rejected, as the Venetians claimed to lack the means to defend it. Venice had already started negotiations with the Ottomans.[25] Barbarossa launched an expedition to recover the fortress the following year, leading to the Siege of Castelnuovo. He captured almost all of the remaining Christian outposts in the Ionian and Aegean Seas.
In October 1540, a peace treaty was signed between Venice and the Ottoman Empire, under which the Ottomans gained control of the Venetian possessions in the Peloponnese and Dalmatia and the former Venetian islands in the Aegean, Ionian and Eastern Mediterranean sea. Venice paid a war compensation of 300,000 ducats in gold to the Ottoman Empire.
With the victory at Preveza and the subsequent victory at the Battle of Djerba in 1560, the Ottomans repelled the efforts of Venice and Spain, their main rival powers in the Mediterranean. Ottoman superiority in similar battles remained unchallenged until the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.[26]
↑English Travellers to Venice 1450 –1600, 2022, Taulor & Francis, ISBN 9781000528343
↑Martin Jacobs, Cultural Intermediaries: Jewish Intellectuals in Early Modern Italy, 2004, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 9780812237795, p.72-73
Crowley, Roger (2008). Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean 1521–1580. Faber & Faber. ISBN978-0571232314.
Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1895). Armada Española, desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón, tomo I. Instituto de Historia Naval.
García Cereceda, Martín (1873). Tratado de las campañas y otros acontecimientos de los ejércitos del emperador Carlos V en Italia, Francia, Austria, Berberia y Grecia desde 1521 hasta 1545 · Tomo 12, Parte 1. Indiana University.
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