The 2nd Bombardment of Algiers took place between 12 and 21 July 1784. A joint Spanish-Neapolitan-Maltese-Portuguese fleet commanded by the Spanish Admiral Antonio Barceló bombarded the city, which was the main base of the

Barbary corsairs The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. This area was known in Europe a ...

, with the aim of forcing them to interrupt their activities.Sánchez Doncel pg. 277 The second bombardment followed a similarly failed expedition the preceding year.

Background

In August 1783, in response to acts of piracy undertaken by the city, a Spanish fleet with Maltese participation under Antonio Barceló bombarded

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

for 8 days. The expedition ended in failure with some casualties, vast expenditure of ammunition and no effect. Significant propaganda was made by the participants to portray the attack as a success, but it only inflicted minor damages and was described by the Spanish court as a "''festival of fireworks too costly and long for how little it entertained the Moors''". Five Algerian privateers captured two Spanish merchant vessels near Palamós in September 1783 as a gesture of defiance. The city's defenses were reinforced with a new 50-gun fortress, 4,000 Turkish volunteer soldiers were recruited in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, and European aides were hired to assist in the building fortifications and batteries. In addition, at least 70 vessels were prepared to repel the Spanish, and a reward of one thousand gold pieces was offered by the Dey to anyone who captured a ship of the attacking fleet. Meanwhile, in Cartagena, Barceló had finished preparations for a new expedition. His fleet consisted of four 80-gun ships of line, four

frigates A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

, 12

xebec A xebec ( or ), also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging bowsprit and aft-set mizzen mast. The term can also refer to a small, fast vessel of the sixteenth to nineteenth ...

s, 3

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...

s, 9 small vessels, and an attacking force of 24

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-ste ...

s armed with pieces of 24 pounds, 8 more with 18 pounds' pieces, 7 lightly armed to board the Algerian vessels, 24 armed with mortars, and 8

bomb vessel A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons (long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounted ...

s with 8 pound pieces. The expedition was financed by

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799. Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...

and supported by the Navy of the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ( it, Regno delle Due Sicilie) was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1860. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by population and size in Italy before Italian unification, comprising Sicily and al ...

, which provided two ships of the line, three frigates, two brigs and two xebecs under Admiral Bologna, by the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

, which provided a ship of line, two frigates and five

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be u ...

s, and by that of Portugal, which provided two ships of line and two frigates under Admiral Ramires Esquível. These last joined the allied fleet later and arrived in the middle of the bombardment.

Bombardment

On 28 June, having entrusted itself to the

Virgen del Carmen Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Virgin of Carmel, is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order, particularly within the Catholic Church. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Ca ...

, the Allied fleet sailed from Cartagena, arriving off Algiers on 10 July. Two days later at 8:30 AM, the bombardment began with the Spanish ships opening fire. It was kept up until 4:20 PM, during which time about 600 bombs, 1,440 cannon balls and 260 shells were fired over the city, compared to 202 bombs and 1,164 cannonballs fired by the Algerians. Major damage to the city and its fortifications and a large fire were observed. An attack by light vessels of the Algerian fleet, composed of 67 ships, was repulsed, four of them being destroyed. The Allied casualties were minimal: 6 killed and 9 wounded, most of them due to accidents with the

fuses Fuse or FUSE may refer to: Devices * Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current ** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles * Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protec ...

of the bombs. Gunboat No. 27, commanded by the Neapolitan

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

José Rodríguez, exploded accidentally, killing 25 sailors. In the following eight days, seven additional attacks were ordered. The Algerians had placed a line of

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. ...

s armed with artillery that largely prevented the Allied gunboats getting close to their objectives. A shot fired from the fortifications hit the

felucca A felucca ( ar, فلوكة, falawaka, possibly originally from Greek , ) is a traditional wooden sailing boat used in the eastern Mediterranean—including around Malta and Tunisia—in Egypt and Sudan (particularly along the Nile and in protect ...

from which Barceló were directing the bombing, sinking it. José Lorenzo de Goicoechea came to the aid of the admiral, who was rescued unscathed. Passing immediately to another boat, Barceló continued leading the attack, downplaying the importance of the incident. Finally, on 21 July, it was decided to end the attack. Contrary winds forced Barceló to give the order to return to Cartagena. More than 20,000 cannonballs and grenades had been fired on the city, badly damaging the city and causing the sinking in the harbour of most of the Algerian vessels. The Allied casualties were 53 men killed and 64 wounded, most of them due to accidents.

Aftermath

The bombardment was unsuccessful, nevertheless a period of negociations began from 1785 to 1787 - the Dey of Algiers agreed to open these with Spain.Trigo Chacón pg. 567Rodríguez González p. 211Juan Vidal/Martínez Ruiz pg. 329 The first peace treaty was signed on 16 june 1785 followed by a second treaty signed on 14 June 1786 in which the Spanish agreed to pay 1 million pesos as reparations.Fernández Duro pg. 347 The signing of these treaties did not end hostilities and skirmishes and further negociations continued.

Notes

References

* * Fernández Duro, Cesáreo. ''Armada Española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón, Volumen II''. Est. tipográfico "Sucesores de Rivadeneyra", 1902. * Juan Vidal, Josep; Martínez Ruiz, Enrique. ''Política interior y exterior de los Borbones''.

Ediciones Akal Ediciones Akal is a Spanish publisher founded in Madrid in 1972 by Ramón Akal González. It consists of a catalogue of three thousand works in forty collections which includes fields like Humanities, classic texts, modern literature, etc., and ...

, 2001. * Laínz, Jesús. ''La nación falsificada''. Encuentro, 2006. * Martinez Guanter, Antonio Luis
''Don Antonio Barceló, el "Capitán Toni"''.
Revista de Historia Naval. * Rodríguez González, Agustín Ramón. ''Trafalgar y el conflicto naval Anglo-Español del siglo XVIII''. Actas Editorial, 2005. * Sánchez Doncel, Gregorio. ''Presencia de España en Orán (1509-1792)''. .T. San Ildefonso, 1991. * Trigo Chacón, Manuel. ''Los estados y las relaciones internacionales''. Editorial Visión Libros, 2008. *

Universidad de Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

, Departament d'Història Moderna, 1984 Congrés d'Història Moderna de Catalunya. ''Primer Congrés d'Història Moderna de Catalunya, Volumen 1''. Edicions Universitat Barcelona, 1984. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bombardment Of Algiers (1784) Barbary pirates

History of Algiers 1784 in Africa 1784 in the Ottoman Empire 18th century in Algiers