Conflict: Ottoman-Venetian Wars
Combatants: Holy League vs. Turks
Location: Greece
Outcome: Holy League victory
When Ottoman Turks attacked the island of Cyprus in 1571, Pope Pius V and Phillip II of Spain agreed to send support to the Venetians to oppose the Ottoman Empire. Although Cyprus fell to the Turks on August 3rd, John of Austria (a.k.a. Don Juan), the commander of the League fleet, pursued his Turkish counterpart. On October 7th, the two great fleets clashed off the coast of Greece. The galleys rammed one another and launched boarding parties in a massive melee. The Turkish commander, Ali Pasha, was killed in the battle and 25,000 Turks were killed. The League suffered 7,500 killed but rescued nearly 15,000 Christian slaves from the Ottoman galleys.
Points of Interest:
The defeat at Lepanto ended Turkish dominance of the Mediterranean Sea.
Lepanto was the last major naval battle fought with oar-driven vessels.
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Sources:
Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).
Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.
Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
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