Introduction

Summary

The Ottoman Empire, the pre-eminent Islamic naval state of the early modern period, entered the age of fighting sail at a date much later than most Christian states but also later than a number of the smaller Islamic sea powers. Despite the issuing of a fatwa in 1650 that required the building of between twenty and thirty warships fully dependent on sail, ships propelled by oar continued to retain considerable significance. Only in 1701, with the issuing of a kanun, a state ordnance, was a more definite direction taken; it laid down that the navy's main fighting arm should be composed only of large sailing ships, with the Ottoman naval dockyards to begin or continue work upon the construction of fifteen galleons to enhance the twenty-five already completed. The term used on both occasions was kalyon, a general term for a large warship propelled by sail and not reflective of any particular ship type. Nevertheless, galleys were not totally abandoned, remaining of considerable importance in the Red Sea, while, in the Mediterranean, galleys continued in use for the towing of sailing ships when the winds were unfavourable and for directly supporting the army in a range of military operations.

In this opening section, while concentrating on the workings of the Ottoman state navy during the age of fighting sail, it will be necessary to give attention to the years immediately preceding the full introduction of sail in order to understand the reasons that lay behind this apparent delayed transfer to sail. A delimiting factor in this discussion, as reflected in the use of the term ‘to the west’, is that of focusing here on the operations of the Ottoman navy in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, with consideration of activities in the Indian Ocean (including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf) to be considered in a later section.

While the Ottoman navy in western waters had, during the age of fighting sail, often to compete with some of the most technically advanced navies of the world, the Ottomans were rarely deficient in technology appropriate to a naval power. Evidence will be produced to show that Ottoman warships during the age of fighting sail were the equal of those of Christian Europe, while ordnance and gunpowder carried were in no way deficient.