Battle of Preveza

Timeline

1. 1538eastern Mediterranean and Ionian Sea · Ionian SeaCharles V, Venice, the Papal States and others formed the Holy League, gathering over a hundred warships to check Ottoman expansion in the Aegean and Adriatic. Ottoman sultan Suleiman ordered Hayreddin Barbarossa to lead the fleet south from Istanbul; the two sides gradually closed on each other in the Mediterranean.
2. 1538Bay of Preveza (Gulf of Arta) · Ionian SeaThe Ottoman fleet under Barbarossa engaged the Holy League fleet in the Bay of Preveza. Fighting with sailing line tactics and boarding actions, the Ottomans gained the upper hand that day through more flexible maneuver and firepower, denying the allies their strategic goal of breaking the Ottoman sea defense line.
3. 1538–1539eastern Mediterranean · Ionian SeaThe Holy League failed to recover or blockade the Ottoman navy, and the combined fleet gradually dissolved. The Ottomans consolidated control of the Aegean, the Dalmatian coast and the North African littoral; Charles V and Venice were forced to seek a temporary accommodation with the Ottomans in subsequent diplomacy, as the strategic balance in the eastern Mediterranean tilted toward the Ottomans.