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Ottoman Galley Fleet

Type Object Region Ottoman Empire Time c. 1320–1571

The Ottoman navy organized under the Kapudan Pasha, centered on a fleet of galleys;…

Timeline

  1. c. 1320–1400Gulf of Izmir · East Aegean coastDuring the Ottoman beylik period a small galley fleet was formed on the Anatolian west coast for cross-sea raids against Byzantine islands and blockade of the straits, laying the organizational prototype for the later imperial navy.
  2. 1441–1450Bosphorus Strait · Bosphorus StraitIn the 1440s Mehmed II built on a large scale and assembled galleys on both sides of the straits, absorbing Genoese and Greek shipwrights, preparing naval blockade and transport forces for the 1453 Siege of Constantinople.
  3. 1453–1530Golden Horn, Istanbul · ConstantinopleAfter the conquest of Constantinople, the Ottomans established the office of Kapudan Pasha (grand admiral); the Golden Horn shipyards regularly built galleys, the fleet reaching several hundred vessels, controlling the Black Sea entrance and expanding into the eastern Mediterranean.

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