Battle of Lepanto (1571)

The naval Battle of Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571, at the northern edge of the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth (then the Gulf of Lepanto), off western Greece. A galley fleet of the Holy League, a sometimes-flimsy coalition of Pope Pius V, Spain, the Venice, Genoa, Savoy, Naples, the Knights of Malta and others, defeated a force of Ottoman galleys. It was the final major naval battle in world history to take place between exclusively oared-galleys.

The battle

The Left and Centre galleases had been towed half a mile ahead of the Christian line, and were able to sink 2 Turkish galleys, and damage some more, before the Turkish fleet left them behind. As the battle started, Doria found that Uluj Ali's galleys extended further to the south than his own, and so headed south to avoid being out-flanked. This meant he was even later coming into action. He ended up being outmanoeuvered by Ali, who turned back and attacked the southern end of the Centre Division, taking advantage of the big gap that Doria had left.

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In the North Chulouk Bey had managed to get between the shore and the Christian North Division with six galleys, and early on, the Christian fleet suffered. Barbarigo was killed by an arrow, but the Venetians held their lines. The Christian Center also held the line and caused great damage to the Muslim Center. In the South off-shore side, Doria was engaged in a melee with Uluj Ali's ships taking the worse part, meanwhile Uluj Ali commanded 16 galleys in a fast attack on the Centre, taking 6 Christian galleys, among them the Capitana of Malta, from the Knights Hospitallers, killing everyone on board. The arrival of Alvaro de Bazán with the reserve was able to turn the battle, both in the Centre and in Doria's South wing. Uluj Ali was forced to flee with 16 galleys and 24 galliots, abandoning his captures. During the course of the battle, the Ottoman commander's ship was boarded and the Spanish tercios from 3 galleys and the Turkish janissaries from 7 galleys fought on the deck of the Turkish Sultana. Twice the Spanish were repelled with great loss, but at the third attempt, with reinforcements from Alvaro de Bazán's galley, they prevailed. Müezzenzade Ali Pasha was killed and beheaded, against the wishes of Don Juan. However, when his head was displayed on a pike from the Spanish flagship, it contributed greatly to the destruction of Turkish morale. The battle concluded around 4 pm.

Related Topics:
Knights Hospitaller - Tercio - Janissaries

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The Turkish fleet suffered the loss of about 180 galleys and 60 galliots. However, only 117 galleys and 13 galliots were in good enough condition for the Christians to keep. On the Christian side 15 galleys were destroyed and 30 damaged so seriously that they had to be scuttled.

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The Holy League had suffered around 9,000 casualties but freed twice as many Christian prisoners. Turkish casualties were around 30,000. The Holy League credited the victory to the Virgin Mary, whose intercession with God they had implored for victory through the use of the Rosary. Pius V instituted a new Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Victory to commemorate the battle, which is now celebrated by the Catholic Church as the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. http://www.udayton.edu/mary/questions/yq/yq103.html

Related Topics:
Rosary - Our Lady of Victory

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