Ottoman Empiire First Naval War || 1416 Ottoman Wars FULL DOCUMENTARY

The Ottomans were a land power, a land state like all Turkish states. They were far from sea or marine related activities that originated from the region where they came from and lived. The principality founded by Osman Bey has reached the Marmara and Aegean seas from very early dates. Thus,

the first naval powers of the Ottomans, who started to face threats from the sea and from the sea, In the 1350s, he formed the ships of the Karesi Principality, from which he took his landed. Naval activities in the Ottomans, Western Anatolian principalities;

Aydın did not develop as fast as Saruhan and Menteşe sons. Among the principalities with very similar social dynamics and foundations,

Ottoman Empiire First Naval War

There was only one reason why there was such a difference: When the Ottomans managed to get to Rumelia and hold on to it as early as 1353, The vast Balkan Peninsula appeared before him, where he could use his land power. For other principalities, the Aegean Sea, or the Sea of Islands, was a natural obstacle. It was inevitable that they were dealing with maritime as they could not expand towards the east.

The Ottomans would have to deal with the sea and seamanship, of course, with a similar necessity. That first imperative was the security of the Dardanelles. The Ottomans, who completely spread to the Southern Marmara and thus border the sea, with Venice and Genoese competing with each other to reach the top of maritime trade Besides, he started to get in touch with Eastern Rome, which was his main goal.

Especially the relationship established with the two Italian states was trade-centered ... With the era of Murat I, the traffic of the Ottomans, which grew like an avalanche in the Balkans, increased a lot. However, it was very difficult for the Turks to organize the sea leg of this military traffic and migration wave. They were giving money to Venice and Genoese alongside the ships in their possession.

Ottoman Empiire First Naval War

When they broke down with the aforementioned states, the crossing turned into a hell. Although both sides of the Bosphorus belong to the Species, Venice, Genoese and Byzantine; He can control the throat as he wishes; He used the territorial waters as he wanted. Realizing that it is necessary to call it a stop, Sultan Murat, He established a small shipyard in Kocaeli and ordered that enough rafts be built for crossing and Bosphorus safety. He placed the "Naval Torments" in the castles along the Bosphorus.

But these were the Marines today, The main thing was the seaman and he was not there yet in the Ottoman Empire. During the period of Bayezid I, who had a great role in the institutionalization and expansion of the Ottoman Empire,

the breakthrough grew steadily. The Sultan managed to bind many Western Anatolian principalities to himself in an Anatolian expedition. and in the next period, he would succeed in establishing the Turkish unity in Anatolia to a large extent.

The fleets of the received Western Principalities could not combine and form the basis of the Ottoman Equipment. At that time, the principalities were conducting their naval activities through Turkish pirates. and these pirates did not approach the Ottoman side when their beys were eliminated ...

The ships of Turkish pirates who agreed to enter Ottoman service and 60 ships, consisting of ships built in Kocaeli, pillaged some Aegean islands under the leadership of Sarıca Bey. However, this small group could not prevent the freedom of Venice and Genoese in the Dardanelles. The sea power of the Ottomans was still very weak ...

In recent years, the Sultan had a shipyard built in Gallipoli and the Lapseki fortress built opposite it. Since the Ottomans understood the importance of controlling the strait, it should be defended. They aimed to organize both from the sea and from the land. After these measures were taken, foreign ships had to pass through the strait with permits called "Mafgarya".

This was a great success, but the rules did not apply to fast and well-equipped Venetian ships. Because the Ottomans could only shoot arrows from the fortresses and the ships in their possession are not at a level to rival the opponent.

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he could not threaten the opponent during the passage of the ships. When the Ottomans went on a campaign to resist the crusader army formed in 1396, The crusaders' naval force, the 44-piece crusader fleet, set out to reach the Balkans.

Sarica Bey and the Ottoman ships under his command, When he realized that he could not compete with his powerful crusader fleet, he withdrew to Gallipoli port. The fleet, which easily crossed both straits, went to the Black Sea and joined the Battle of Niğbolu via the Danube river. The arrival of this fleet from the Mediterranean to Niğbolu, It once again showed how weak the sea power of the Ottoman Empire was.

Another bad test was given during the 3rd siege of Istanbul. 60 ships doing the job of taking Istanbul under the sea blockade, The Venetian ships that supported Eastern Rome could not hold, and the ships He reached Istanbul easily and relieved the Byzantines under the blockade. These events in the siege of Niğbolu and Istanbul prompted Yıldırım Bayezid to take a new measure. He also built a castle similar to the one he built to hold the Dardanelles Strait to hold the Bosphorus. Güzelcehisar, completed in 1397,

It would cause difficulties for foreign ships in the passages between the Black Sea and the Marmara ... The next test of the Ottoman navy, which reached the power to make landings on the Aegean islands, was in 1399. Charles VI of France, at the request of the Byzantine emperor for help, sent a small fleet full of soldiers and supplies to Istanbul.

Venice, Genoese and Rhodes ships would also be added to this fleet. However, the French fleet waiting in Bozcaada tried to force the strait with 6 ships without waiting for their allies. Sarıca Bey prevented the opponent from entering the strait with 17 ships. This was not the first Ottoman naval victory, but the first naval success ... The French ships towed to Bozcaada forced the strait again when their allies arrived. The Ottomans took shelter directly in Kocaeli port, this time when the opponent was much stronger. and aid ships managed to come to the rescue of Istanbul. With the Battle of Ankara in 1402,

the Ottoman Empire entered a great depression and the civil war began. In this period, which we call the Interregnum Period, the Ottoman navy was used rarely and the development of the navy slowed down. The re-emergence took the throne in 1413. It was during the time of Çelebi Mehmet, who restored the integrity of the Ottoman property. Sitting on the throne, Tavil Mehmet gave an order to immediately form a fleet.

The sultan, who sees Venice as a target for a long time, with friendly relations, It formed a fleet of 112 ships, 17 of which were galleys and the rest were small boats. He put Çalı Bey in charge of the navy. It also established a de facto partnership with the Genoese, which was a rival with Venice. 42 pieces of the Ottoman navy that captured Venetian ships trying to pass through the Bosphorus,

It was opened to the Aegean in 1415 under the rule of Çalı Bey. Turkish sailors Naksos and Paros, also connected here, He organized landings on Melos and Andros Islands, destroyed and plundered. Frightened, the Duke of Naxos was unable to take his own ships out of the harbor and agreed to pay taxes to the Ottomans. The Turks control this attack in the Aegean and the Dardanelles Strait Of course it dropped faces in Venice.

Venice had to do something and turn things in his favor ... Fleet of 15 large galleys under the command of Pietro Loredano, He came to the Aegean waters in April 1416. Venice's intention was to keep the Bosphorus open to merchant ships rather than war. They even brought 2 diplomats with them for this. The Ottomans, on the other hand, naturally sees these regions as their domain of domination. and did not want work done without being asked. Let's see where things would end ... Admiral Pietro arrived off Gallipoli on 28 May. He sent his aide named Tomasso to Çalı Bey and said his purpose.

The atmosphere was calm as there was no officially declared war. But the next day, it happened when a Genoese merchant ship with a pass tried to enter the strait. When the Venetians hit and sank the ship of their opponent, the Ottoman officials were furious. How could the Venetians behave like that in Ottoman territorial waters? Moreover, the sunk ship had a passage and belonged to the ally of the Turks.

Çalı Bey got angry with this and immediately gave orders to the sailors. The Ottomans rushed towards the ships and sailed. They were going over the Venetian navy ... When Admiral Pietro accepted this as an official declaration of war and decided to fight, The first official naval battle in Ottoman history started on 29 May 1416.

Venice had 15 large ships. The Ottomans had 13 towers and 21 smaller ships at that time. The technical superiority among the fleets was incomparably with the Venetians. They had the best ships of the Age of Rowing Ships. The ships of the Italians were neat and large, as well as equipped with cannons. On the Ottoman ships, there were only arrows that could respond to the firepower of the opponent.

Although under normal circumstances the classical naval warfare style of the period was based on "spurting" and "ramping" The cannons on the Venetian ships prepared the ground for war without approaching the Ottomans. In addition, Italian ships, It was run by master sailors who have the advantage of doing this job for centuries.

Despite everything, Çalı Bey and his ships, attacking on the opponent, fell under Venetian fire. Turkish ships, which are not very strong anyway, are seriously injured as a result of their hits, He could not approach the opponent at the desired rate. Ottoman naval lord, who entered a war with a certain result, gliding through their burning ships and dying crew as a last resort snuck into the opponent's captain's ship. Arrows were shot down at the opponent from a few ships that were close enough to the admiral.

During this intense arrow shooting, the Admiral was injured in his left leg and cheek. but this did not affect the results of the war ... Venetians firepower advantage, He managed to seize Ottoman ships with his maritime knowledge and quality. Çalı Bey and many armies were martyred during the war, and the rest of the personnel were captured. The crew of the 12 captured ships, witnessed by women and children watching the battle with teary eyes on the beaches of Gallipoli, he was slaughtered and thrown into the sea.

Afterwards, Admiral Pietro wanted to attack Lapseki and take it. When he learned that Halil Bey, who had a large force under his command, was nearby, he gave up on this. After all, Italians could have excelled at sea but they would not want to experience the misfortune of encountering the real power of the Ottomans if the battle was carried on land. Then, after the victory, the Venetians headed towards Bozcaada. They took the 5 pullers as loot and burned the rest as useless ... After the defeat Çelebi Mehmet,

He had to accept Venice's superiority at sea. Tax on Naksos removed and some concessions, such as the free passage of Venetian merchant ships through the straits. The Ottomans, who even had difficulties in protecting the Dardanelles at that time, 100-150 years from now, it will have one of the most powerful navies in the Mediterranean;

He would sail his ships from the Adriatic to the Indian Ocean, from the Sea of Azov to the coast of Gibraltar. But the Ottomans had to go a long way to reach that level….

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