Murat Reis the Elder (; 1534 – 1609) was an Ottoman privateer and

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

, who served in the Ottoman Navy. He is regarded as one of the most important Barbary corsairs.

Early career

Born into an Albanian family on

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

in 1534 he began his career when he joined the crew of Dragut at a very young age. He also fought alongside Piri Reis in several expeditions. In 1534 Murat Reis accompanied Hayreddin Barbarossa to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

where they were received by Suleiman I and appointed to take command of the Ottoman fleet. While in Constantinople, Murat Reis participated in the construction of new warships at the naval arsenal on the Golden Horn.

Battle of Preveza

Murat Reis took part in all of the early naval campaigns of Turgut Reis. On September 25 and 26, 1538, he was assigned with the task of preventing the ships of the Holy League under the command of

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was an Italian statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. From 1528 until his death, Doria exercised a predominant influe ...

from landing at

Preveza Preveza (, ) is a city in the region of Epirus (region), Epirus, northwestern Greece, located on the northern peninsula of the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. It is the capital of the Preveza (regional unit), regional unit of Preveza, which is the s ...

, and he successfully repulsed them from the shoreline. On September 28, he took part in the main combat and played an important role in the Ottoman victory at the Battle of Preveza, where he fought along with Turgut Reis in the center-rear wing of the Ottoman fleet which had a Y-shaped battle configuration. He continued to accompany Turgut Reis until being assigned as the Commander-in-Chief of the

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fleet.

Siege and conquest of Cyprus

In 1570 Murat Reis, in command of a fleet of 25 galleys, was assigned with the task of clearing the area between

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

for the build-up of the naval siege and eventual conquest of Cyprus. He was also assigned with the task of blocking the Venetian ships based in Crete from sailing to Cyprus and assisting the Venetian forces in that island. He continued to undertake this task until the eventual surrender of Famagusta, the final Venetian stronghold on the island.

Canary Islands

In 1586 he led the first expedition of the Barbary corsairs in the Atlantic Ocean and captured several of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

. During the attacks, among others he captured the Spanish governor of

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, who was later ransomed and released.

Mediterranean campaigns

Murat Reis was later assigned with the task of controlling the lucrative trade routes between

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and

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which were often raided by the Venetians, the French and the Maltese Knights. In 1609, he heard of the presence of a joint French-Maltese fleet of ten galleys, including the famous ''Galeona Rossa'', a large

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europe, Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels dr ...

armed with 90 cannons which was known among the Ottomans as the ''Red Inferno'', under the command of a knight named Fresine, off the island of Cyprus, and sailed there to engage them. After successfully striking the enemy ships with cannons from both long distance and close range, he severely damaged the ''Red Inferno'' and captured the ship. Six out of the ten French-Maltese galleys were captured, along with the 500 soldiers aboard, and the total of 160 cannons and 2000 muskets which they carried. During the battle Murat Reis was seriously injured. In 1609 he took part in the siege of

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, during which he died. Per his own wishes he was buried in Rhodes, in the cemetery of the Murat Reis Mosque, which was named in his honour.

Legacy

Several submarines of the Turkish Navy have been named after Murat Reis (see Oruç Reis-class submarine). One of the municipalities that form the City of

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, which was once the regional capital of the Ottoman Eyalet of

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

(1517–1830), is named Bir Mourad Raïs (''Murat Reis' well'') in his honor. Under the name Morato Arráez'', he is mentioned in several literary works of the

Spanish Golden Age The Spanish Golden Age (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Siglo de Oro'', , "Golden Century"; 1492 – 1681) was a period of literature and the The arts, arts in Spain that coincided with the political rise of the Spanish Empire under the Catholic M ...

, for example by

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

and

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) of Spanish Baroque literature, Baroque literature. In the literature of ...

References and sources

* E. Hamilton Currey, ''Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean'', London, 1910 * Bono, Salvatore: ''Corsari nel Mediterraneo'' (''Corsairs in the Mediterranean''), Oscar Storia Mondadori. Perugia, 1993.
Corsari nel Mediterraneo: Condottieri di ventura. Online database in Italian, based on Salvatore Bono's book.
* Bradford, Ernle, ''The Sultan's Admiral: The life of Barbarossa'', London, 1968. * Wolf, John B., ''The Barbary Coast: Algeria under the Turks'', New York, 1979;
The Ottomans: Comprehensive and detailed online chronology of Ottoman history in English.

Comprehensive and detailed online chronology of Ottoman history
(in )
Turkish Navy official website: Historic heritage of the Turkish Navy
(in ) {{DEFAULTSORT:Murat Reis the Elder 1530s births 1638 deaths Piri Reis Sailors from the Ottoman Empire 16th-century sailors Ottoman Empire admirals Naval history of the Ottoman Empire People from Rhodes Ottoman Cyprus 16th century in Portugal 16th-century Spanish people Ottoman Iraq Ottoman Greece 16th-century Ottoman military personnel 17th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 16th-century Albanian people 17th-century Albanian people