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Battle of Zonchio

Coordinates: 36°54′N 21°41′E / 36.900°N 21.683°E / 36.900; 21.683
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Battle of Zonchio
Part of the Ottoman–Venetian War of 1499–1503

unknown Venetian artist, British Museum
Date14-25 August 1499
Location
Zonchio, Ionian Sea
Result Ottoman victory[1]
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire Republic of Venice
Commanders and leaders
Kemal Reis
Feriz Beg		 Antonio Grimani
Strength
60 light galleys
3 heavy galleys
30 galiots
40 fustas
21 carracks
111 barges		 46 light galleys
17 heavy galleys
15 carracks
4 caravels
11 brigantines

The naval Battle of Zonchio (Turkish: Sapienza Deniz Muharebesi, also known as the Battle of Sapienza or the First Battle of Lepanto) took place on four separate days: 12, 20, 22, and 25 August 1499. It was a part of the Ottoman–Venetian War of 1499–1503.[2]

The Ottomans emerged as a serious naval force in the Mediterranean with their victory over the Venetians in Zonchio, followed by a series of similar successes during the war.[3] With the Venetian armada failing at checking their advance, the Ottomans captured Lepanto shortly after.

Background

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In January 1499 Kemal Reis set sail from Constantinople with a force of 10 galleys and 4 other types of ships, and in July met with the huge, 260-ship Ottoman fleet which was sent to him by Davud Pasha, taking over its command in order to wage a large scale war against the Republic of Venice. They were carrying supplies for six months in order to spend winder away from Ottoman mainland, as well as equipment for a great siege, including 15 great bombards and dozens of smaller ones. The fleet sailed off on 30 June from Gallipoli and headed for Lemnos and Quios. The suffered slight casualties near cape Mantello when several ships sank.[4]

On July 5, Giacomo Giustiniani from Cerigo warned Venetian captain-general Antonio Grimani that the Ottoman fleet had placed between Cerigo and Negroponte with unknown plans. As a consequence, all Venetian garrisons around Morea were ordered to prepare for an imminent attack. On July 10, the Venetian captains gathered in Modon, where Grimani was advised to steer the Venetian fleet to open sea to prevent the Ottomans from trapping it in port. However, although Grimani was 65 and a proven captain in battle, he was not an experienced leader and had never commanded large battle fleets. He had only been given command because of a donation of 16,000 ducats to the state and personally funding the arming of 10 galleys, and was not told whether to fight an offensive or defensive campaign. As a consequence, he didn't give an order immediately.[5]

Previous movements

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In late July, Grimani and his fleet sighted the Ottoman armada between Coron and Modon, but Kemal was not out for battle, but to reinforce Ottoman positions on land, following the coast so tightly that some vessels ran aground and their Greek crews deserted to the Venetians. The Ottomans entered the gulf of Corone on Jul 24 and disembarked some men in Sapienza.[6][5] Grimani waited for them to do so and followed them, but he found wind unfavorable to attack, so he ultimately returned to Modon with his light galleys while leaving his carracks and heavier galleys at open sea. He sought his chance several times more the next days, but it failed to appear.[7]

Meanwhile, Kemal remained around Sapientza and sacked Sapientza the island. One of his cargo ships fortuitously sank on August 7. Days later, between August 8 and 10, Kemal moved his fleet from Sapienza to Navarino and performed his own maneuvers trying to draw Grimani to fight, but turning out to be feints.[5] Battle finally came on August 12 near Cape Zonchio, when the Ottomans abandoned the bay and Grimani found the wind necessary to attack.[7]

Opposing forces

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One of the two great Ottoman carracks, called göke, under the command of Kemal Reis.

The Ottoman armada was comparatively immense. It counted 260 ships, including 60 light galleys, 3 great galleys similar to the posterior galleasses, 30 galiots, 30-40 fustas, 23 sailing ships of both war and transport and 111 barges with cavalry and artillery.[8][9] It carried possibly as many as 35,000 fighting men aboard, many among them elite Janissaries.[10] Sultan Bayezid II, seeking to maximize the effectiveness of the Ottoman Navy, had given command to experienced corsairs like Kemal Reis and Burak Reis.[8]

As sailing warships were occasionally used by western countries in the Mediterranean, the Ottomans had built massive carracks under the guidance of renegade Venetian engineer Gianni, who had worked in the Venetian Arsenal.[10] The two ships were enormous by the standards of the age, displacing 1800 tons each and carrying heavy artillery and one thousand fighting men and were moved by both sails and rows. Their length was said to be of seventy cubits, and their maintops were large enough to hold forty arquebusiers and archers. The ships were thought to be invulnerable to Venetian galleys.[8]

The Venetian fleet was much smaller, with only 95 vessels of both sail and row, although superior in tonnage, carrying 25,000 fighters.[6] Other sources give 123.[11] It was composed of 17 galleys, 46 galliots, and about 15 carracks at the time.[9] Despite the discrepance in numbers, the fleet had more heavy carracks and great galleys than its counterpart, including two 1200-ton carracks, one of them named Pandora. Grimani was confident all of these ships would grant him the victory.[12]

Battle

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Preambles to August 12

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Grimani struggled to arrange his fleet due to the size and variety of his ships, but managed to do so, placing the heavier ships in the vanguard to shatter the enemy line and the lighter galleys behind to prey on their opponents after a hopeful rout. He gave order of being as close as possible without entangling the oars and not to leave the center unguarded, and in order to prevent indiscipline, he also decreed that any soldier trying to hunt booty during the battle and any captain refusing to attack would be hanged.[13] He was positioned with his flagship in the center of the Venetian line along with the 15 largest ships. The left wing was composed of 17 ships and commanded by the fleet's main backer, Simone Guoro, while the right wing was composed of other 14 vessels. The support fleet was 11 galleys under Domenico Malipiero, yet another backer.[14]

The Ottoman fleet headed towards them by rowing while the Venetians held the line awaiting for the wind, but before the Ottomans got close enough, four Venetian caravels and eleven brigantines captained by Andrea Loredan and Simone Greco arrived from leaving their post in Corfu and joined the fleet. An experienced commander, Loredan had been previously hunting down Kemal Reis and desired to participate in taking down his enemy. Grimani was irritated by the irruption and by being upstaged by the popular Loredan, but allowed him to join the battle and command the first line along with Alban d'Armer. The two choose to command the two heaviest Venetian carracks, with Loredan captaining the Pandora. The Venetians then attacked to meet the Ottomans,[13] although just before the clash, eight Venetian galleys disobeyed the orders and fled from the battle.[15]

Battle on August 12

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Loredan immediately directed the Pandora towards the largest of the two Ottoman carracks, believing it to be Kemal's flagship, but this turned out to be actually the other, while the ship he had targeted was commanded by Burak.[16] The Pandora and Alban's carrack closed on Burak's ship exchanging their powerful artillery, while Turkish galleys swarmed the two Venetian carracks from the sides. Kemal helped Burak by firing his guns from afar, probably prevented by their own galleys from approaching the melee.[17] While action raged, however, the rest of the Venetian fleet refused to join the battle. Alvise Marcello, the commander of the other Venetian carracks, withdrew with his division after capturing just one Ottoman vessel. For his part, Vicenzo Polani, captain of one of the Venetian great galleys, attacked alone with his ship and battled the surrounding Ottoman galleys.[18]

Grimani desperately called the rest of the fleet to battle with his trumpet, but most captains ignored him, while those attempting to obey were encumbered by being at the rear guard. Grimani himself did not join the battle either, while rowers screamed at the carracks for their captains to be hanged. Only eight light vessels from Corfu finally joined, only to be peppered, with one of them sinking. Polani was then forced to flee with his great galley severely damaged by her particular battle, and upon doing so, the other ships of her type followed her and fled. These of Loredan and d'Armer were ultimately the only Venetian ships which sustainedly fought,[19] aside from a small Venetian carrack, the Brocheta, which was surrounded and sunk, although its crew could be rescued.[20]

Loredan and d'Armer had continued engaging Burak at close range against all odds, and after grappling the Ottoman carrack, their boarding parties jumped in and gradually overcame it. However, at this point fire spread in the Turkish ship, either due to their incendiary cannonballs or as a last attempt by Burak, unable to disentangle his ships, to take his opponents with him. With the Venetian carracks similarly unable to disengage, the Ottoman carrack's powder magazine exploded and the destruction spread to the western ships, with the result that all of the three vessels burned and sank. The Ottoman survivors were rescued by the nearby galleys and carrack, while the Venetian fleet, leaving the survivors to be killed by the Turks. Burak and Loredan died, while d'Armer managed to escape in a skiff but was captured and executed.[21] The Ottomans lost two cargo ships and four minor vessels. On August 14, Grimani order the fleet to retreat to Zante to reoarganize and defend Lepanto.[15]

Battles on August 20-24

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The Venetian armada withdrew to the sea, while Kemal and the Ottomans moved towards Lepanto, capitalizing on the chance and not wanting to risk to a more focused battle. They advanced along with the Ottoman land army, which progressed towards Lepanto. Grimani attempted to prevent a repeat of the previous encounter by dividing command between his subordinates, but those refused. A French flotilla of 22 carracks sent by King Louis XIII arrived then, increasing morale at the cost of complicating coordination even more due to their unexperienced crews.[22]

On August 20, Grimani attempted to stop the Ottomans by sending six fire ships fashioned after caravels, but the Ottomans could see them coming and dodged them. The Christian carracks, numbering around forty, attacked then at once, being met by a similar number of Turkish galleys preceding the Ottoman fleet. Although the Christians inflicted damage on them, they could not stop the mass of the Ottoman armada, nor prevent the land army from continuing towards the gulf of Lepanto.[23]

Before daybreak in August 25, Grimani and the Christian fleet prepared a desperate last attack, concentrating all of their ships. He the same scheme of the previous battle, forming his sailing ships in the vanguard, with the heavy galleasses behind and the light galleasses in the third place. However, either due to the lack of wind or due to indecision at the sight of the Ottoman artillery, the Christian carracks failed to advance again. By comparison, Kemal had rushed to move his fleet to the gulf as fast as possible, leaving several sailing ships behind and towing others with his galleys.[23][24] At the end, and faced against the general inaction, captain Polo Calbo advanced with his galleys with eleven galleys, managing to capture eight Turkish galleys before being overpowered by the fire from the Ottoman carracks. While this happened, to the Venetians' dismay, the Ottoman fleet finally entered the gulf of Lepanto, meaning the city would be besieged by land and sea. For their part, the French withdrew from the war in disgust for their allies' performance.[23][24]

Aftermath

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The result of Zonchio was a disaster for the Venetian armada, dealing a severe blow to the Venetian morale. It revealed the systemic faults that weighed it down, like appointing unexperienced admirals and captains unmotivated to compromise. The major participants wrote reports blaming each other for wasting the chance on August 12, with Grimani's own claiming about his captains: "the whole fleet with one voice cried 'Hang them! Hang them!' God knows that they deserved it, but it would have been necessary to hang four-fifths of our fleet".[25] Grimani was blamed for the failure and labeled a traitor. His palace and shops in Venice were vandalized, and he was arrested and returned to Venice in chains. He was banished to the island of Cherso. However, in a later twist, he became the Doge of Venice in 1521.

The Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II gave 10 of the captured Venetian galleys to Kemal Reis, who later stationed his fleet at the island of Cefalonia between October and December 1499. The Ottomans and Venetians soon confronted each other for a second time at the Second Battle of Lepanto, also known as the Battle of Modon, and the Ottomans were again victorious under Kemal Reis.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Alan G. Jamieson, Faith and Sword: A Short History of Christian-Muslim Conflict, (Reaktion Books, 2006), 220.
  2. ^ Norwich, John J. (2003) A History of Venice Penguin, London, pp. 383–385, ISBN 978-0-14-101383-1, reprint of the 1977, 2 volume, edition, entitled Venice: the rise to empire and Venice: the greatness and the fall
  3. ^ Barzman, Karen-edis (2017). The Limits of Identity: Early Modern Venice, Dalmatia, and the Representation of Difference. Brill. pp. 113–114. ISBN 978-9004331518.
  4. ^ Marin Sanudo, Diarii, 1882, vol III, pg. 1013, 1054-1055.
  5. ^ a b c vol. III, pgs. 1012, 1055, 1057-1058, 1122, 1230-1231
  6. ^ a b Crowley (2011), p. 441.
  7. ^ a b Crowley (2011), p. 442.
  8. ^ a b c Crowley (2011), p. 440.
  9. ^ a b Domenico Malipiero. "Annali veneti dall'anno 1457 al 1500," (Florence, Vieusseux, 1843) edited by Francesco Longo and Agostino Sagredo, 163.
  10. ^ a b Crowley (2011), p. 439.
  11. ^ San Juan Sánchez (2018), p. 25.
  12. ^ Crowley (2011), p. 441-443.
  13. ^ a b Crowley (2011), p. 443.
  14. ^ vol. III, pags. 1124-1126
  15. ^ a b vol. III, pg. 1231-1236
  16. ^ Crowley (2011), p. 443-444.
  17. ^ San Juan Sánchez (2018), p. 27.
  18. ^ Crowley (2011), p. 444-445.
  19. ^ Crowley (2011), p. 445.
  20. ^ San Juan Sánchez (2018), p. 30.
  21. ^ Crowley (2011), p. 446.
  22. ^ San Juan Sánchez (2018), p. 31.
  23. ^ a b c San Juan Sánchez (2018), p. 32.
  24. ^ a b Crowley (2011), p. 448.
  25. ^ Crowley (2011), p. 446-447.

Bibliography

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  • Abercrombie, Gordon Ellyson (2024). The Hospitaller Knights of Saint John at Rhodes 1306-1522. Pen and Sword. ISBN 9781399048026.
  • Barzman, Karen-edis (2017). The Limits of Identity: Early Modern Venice, Dalmatia, and the Representation of Difference. Brill. ISBN 9789004331518.
  • Crowley, Roger (2011). City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas. Random House. ISBN 9780679644262.
  • Fisher, Sydney N. The Foreign Relation of Turkey, 1481–1512. Chapter 6.
  • San Juan Sánchez, Víctor (2018). Breve historia de las batallas navales del Mediterráneo. Nowtilus. ISBN 9788499679365.
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36°54′N 21°41′E / 36.900°N 21.683°E / 36.900; 21.683

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