Battle of Alborán facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Battle of Alboran
Part of Ottoman-Habsburg wars
An Ottoman Galley; image taken from a miniature.
Date 1 October 1540 Location off Alboran, Spain Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
Spain	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Bernardino de Mendoza (WIA)	Ali Hamet (POW)
Strength
10 galleys	3 galleys, 5 galliots, 6 fustas, 2 brigantines
Casualties and losses
137 killed, 500 wounded	1 galley sunk, 10 ships captured, 700 killed, 437 captured, 837 slaves freed

The Battle of Alboran happened on October 1, 1540. It took place near Alboran Island in Spain. This battle was part of a bigger fight between the Ottoman Empire and the Spanish Empire. Both empires wanted to control the Mediterranean Sea.

In this battle, a Spanish fleet led by Bernardino de Mendoza defeated an Ottoman fleet. The Ottoman fleet was commanded by Ali Hamet. The Spanish sank one Ottoman ship and captured ten others.

What Led to the Battle

In the middle of 1540, a pirate named Ali Hamet put together a small fleet. He was a "Barbary pirate," meaning he was from North Africa. He was also a "renegade," someone who had changed sides. Ali Hamet used to be from Sardinia but now worked for the Ottoman Empire.

His fleet was made up of different types of ships:

• three large galleys
• five galliots (smaller galleys)
• six fustas (even smaller, fast ships)
• two brigantines (small, two-masted ships)

About 900 rowers and 2,000 Turkish soldiers were on board. There were also some Valencian Moriscos, who were Muslims living in Spain. General Caramani, who used to be a slave on Spanish ships, was also part of this force.

In August, Ali Hamet's fleet sailed to the western part of the Alborán Sea. They knew that Spanish ships were far away in the Balearic Islands. A few days later, about a thousand soldiers from the fleet landed near Gibraltar. They attacked a village there. They could not capture the strong castle. However, they took 73 people prisoner. They also stole from 40 ships in the port. A new ship being built was burned. The prisoners were taken to Vélez de la Gomera in Morocco. They were held there until 7,000 ducats (a type of money) were paid to free them.

The Battle Begins

Bernardino de Mendoza was the commander of Spain's galleys. He heard about the pirate raid while he was in Denia. He learned that Ali Hamet's fleet had not gone through Oran. Mendoza guessed that Hamet's ships would return to Algiers by sailing along the African coast. So, Mendoza sailed his 10 galleys to the west.

On October 1, both fleets saw each other near Alboran Island. Ali Hamet attacked the Spanish ships very strongly. He hoped to use his larger number of ships to board Mendoza's ships. "Boarding" means getting onto an enemy ship to fight hand-to-hand.

However, the Spanish fired their cannons first. This "artillery salvo" caused a lot of damage to Hamet's ships. It hit them before they could get close enough to board the Spanish galleys.

Fighting on the Ships

Hamet and Caramani tried to board Mendoza's main ship. They were not successful. Mendoza knew that winning the battle depended on this fight. He told his soldiers and rowers to move to one side of his galley. This made the other side of the ship lift up. It acted like a shield against Hamet's cannon fire.

Then, Mendoza's soldiers jumped onto Caramani's galley. They captured it and killed Caramani and most of his crew. Next, they boarded Hamet's galley and captured it too. When his ship was taken, Hamet jumped into the water. He swam to another ship in his fleet.

Another Spanish galley, led by Pedro de Guerra, sank one Ottoman galley with a single shot. It then captured another by boarding it. Meanwhile, the Spanish galley Santa Ana was attacked by two Algerian ships. One of these Algerian ships was forced to give up. The other one managed to escape.

Ali Hamet had been rescued by an Algerian galliot. But he was captured again by Enrique Enríquez's Spanish galley while trying to get away.

The battle ended with a small accident. Enrique Enríquez ordered his men to fire on an Ottoman galley. He thought it was still controlled by the Turks. But the crew of the Spanish ship Santa Bárbara had already captured it. Seven Spanish soldiers died in this mistake, and twelve were injured.

After the Battle

Out of the 16 Ottoman ships, ten were captured by the Spanish. One Ottoman ship was sunk. More than 700 Turkish soldiers were killed, including all the captains. Also, 427 Ottoman soldiers were captured. The Spanish freed 837 Christian slaves who had been forced to row on the Ottoman ships.

The Spanish had 137 soldiers killed and about 500 wounded. Bernardino de Mendoza, the Spanish commander, was wounded in the head by a harquebus shot (a type of gun).

To celebrate this big victory, a large parade was held in Málaga. The freed prisoners, the Spanish ship crews, their captains, and Mendoza himself took part. Soon after, Emperor Charles V was told about the victory. The Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo told the Emperor to thank God for the win.

See also

In Spanish: Batalla de la isla de Alborán para niños