The Preveza Naval Battle is the biggest naval battle in Turkish history. It is the war between the Ottoman army under the command of Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha, who is the Captain of the Admiralty, and the crusader army under the command of Andre adora. It ended with the victory of the Ottoman army, and Turkish dominance in the Mediterranean was fully achieved. This victory, which sheds light on Turkish sailors, is a monument of honor and pride in terms of maritime history.
After Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha became the Captain of the Ottoman Empire, he fought fierce battles in the Mediterranean. In the Aegean and Mediterranean, many islands in the hands of Venice were captured. After Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha established great dominance in the Aegean Sea, Venice, Florence, Malta, Genoa, Spain and Portugal united to form the Great Crusader Navy. They united against the Ottoman Empire in order to prevent the Ottoman Empire’s dominance in the seas.
The Dream of Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha and His Surrender to God
All preparations have been made for the Preveza Naval Battle. The crusader fleet, which started to gather in Corfu, besieged the Preveza fortress at the northern entrance of the Narda Bay. Hearing this, Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha sent his volunteer fleet of 20 ships under the command of Turgut Reis as a pioneer. Turgut Reis encountered an enemy fleet of 40 ships in the waters of Zenta and reported the situation to Barbaros.
The next day, the holy unit navy anchored again off Preveza, according to some sources, has over 600 warships and 60 thousand soldiers. Under the command of Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha, there are 122 warships and around 20 thousand soldiers. An extraordinary strategy is required to counter this overwhelming advantage. The Ottoman navy is one third of the enemy navy. But for those who believe, 60 thousand is just a number. because they “There are many small units that, by Allah’s leave, have overcome a large number of units. Allah is with those who are patient.” (Baqarah: 249) They believed in the verse. Didn’t our master the Prophet also win many wars despite the small number of them? They knew this very well.
Barbarossa, who followed in the footsteps of the Prophet, acted cautiously and patiently. Now Barbaros was waiting for a difficult choice. Should he defend or counterattack? That night until the morning, he prayed, “O Allah, make Islam strong over the infidels, and bestow Nusret on Islam.” He then fell asleep and had a dream.
Hayrettin Pasha described his dream himself as follows:
There were small fish in the sea. Some of them had cavities, and then a piece of paper was handed to me. I opened the paper and looked at it. I saw that the words “nasrun mina(A)allahi ve fethhun karîb(un)(k) ve Beşşiri-lmu/minîn(e)” were written on white paper with green calligraphy. I read this and put it on my face and eyes, thank you and thank you, I woke up from sleep.
Barbaros Pasha understood the message in his dream. Because a verse is written on the paper. In the verse, Allah Almighty says:With Allah’s help, there is an imminent conquest. Let’s give good news to the believers Thanks to Allah, he decided to leave the bay immediately according to the interpretation of his dream. Hayrettin Pasha took advantage of the enemy’s negligence and took the anchor from the bay and started the first attack.
Surprised by what happened and not expecting such a brave attack from the outnumbered Ottoman forces, Doria was hit hard in the first attack. After this attack, he could hardly recover in two hours and started to counterattack. With the support of the wind blowing from the south towards Andre, it started to advance with warships towards Barbaros. Everything turned against Barbaros at once. Barbaros Pasha, at that moment when he was helpless, perhaps did something that no one could think of. Barbaros Pasha, who won many wars with his trust in Allah, knows that he will be victorious in this war only if Allah allows.
He opened his hands and prayed. He then ordered all his soldiers to bring paper. In order to raise the morale of his soldiers, he had the 33rd verse of the shura surah and the ninth verse of the ahzab surah written on the papers and asked them to leave the ships to the sea from their right and left sides. The verses said “If Allah wills, he can stop the wind. And they will remain above the sea” (Shura 33), ”O you who believe, remember Allah’s favor upon you. When armies attacked you, We sent against them a wind and armies that you did not see.” (Ahzab 9) God accepted this prayer that Barbaros made with his surrender.
The wind is no longer blowing from the south, and the enemy’s 140 galleon ships, which can only sail by sail if there is wind, are immobilized. Not understanding what was going on, Andrea desperately ordered his ships to fire artillery. But the crusaders’ cannon shots were short. Ottoman guns are less, but their range is longer. They stayed away from the enemy’s range and attacked the enemy with artillery fire. The expected victory has come with the permission of Allah. The battle order of the enemy warships is completely disrupted. After these results, Andre Doria escaped at the first opportunity. The date shows Friday, September 27, 1538. The Christian world definitively lost its dominance in the Mediterranean with the naval battle of Preveza.
