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enabled it to gain considerably more acceleration than a galleon in any
case . The English sailors, hence, must have known quite well that
71
there was no chance to escape the inevitable. And accordingly, they
were equally aware that they would be fighting against all odds.
Once the Ottoman offensive started, galleys took turns in launching
their attacks. As Paul Rycaut related, English vessels were assailed by
either one or two Ottoman galleys at a time. The Hector and William
and Ralph were trying to fend for themselves by turning their weapons
into anti-personnel missiles: they loaded their (quarter deck) guns not
with cannonballs, but with shots, wreaking heavy casualties on the
Ottoman assailants. Apart from these shots, the remaining crew was
using spears in the melee fight against the Ottomans boarding their
vessels . It must be kept in mind that higher boards of the English
72
ships and the canon shots they fired at point-blank range must have
played an important role in forestalling the Ottoman boarders on the
low-lying platforms of the galleys.
73
Comparing the narrative with a contemporary naval clash, the first
impression one gets is the haste with which the Ottomans engaged the
English ships: in 1628, when a four-galley-squadron of the Order of
the Knights of St. John targeted the English galleon Sampson, consid-
erable time was spent before the two sides closed the distance physi-
cally. Because the galleys were diligent enough to approach the Eng-
lish vessel, discharge their cannons (placed at the prows) and then
turn around. Their aim was to debilitate the English galleon by bring-
ing down the mast and yards, rendering the sails useless . Attempts
74
at boarding could start only after the galleys could feel assured that
sufficient damage was incurred at the enemy galleon.
In all their apparent impatience, therefore, Cafer Pasha’s fleet was
bound to suffer heavy casualties in 1633. During this ferocious en-
gagement, a notable of the Ottoman navy from Rhodes, Memi Beg,
took a cannon shot in the head and fell dead : an English traveller
75
visiting Rhodes the next year would realise that a remarkable monu-
mental tomb for Memi Beg was built on the island, suggesting the sig-
nificance of the Ottoman sailor .
76

71 J.F. Guilmartin, Galleons and Galleys, p. 106; J.H. Pryor, Geography, Tech-
nology, and War, p. 71.
72 P. Rycaut, The Turkish History, Comprehending the Origin of that Nation, and
the Growth of the Othoman Empire, with the Lives and Conquests of Their Several
Kings and Emperors. Vol. II. Isaac Cleave, London, 1701, p. 77.
73 B. De Groot, Dutch Navies, pp. 14-16.
74 M. Strachan, Sampson’s Fight with Maltese Galleys, 1628, «The Mariner’s
Mirror», 55, n. 3 (1969), pp. 281-289, on page 286.
75 Naima Mustafa Efendi, Tarih-i Naima, p. 783.
76 H. Blunt, A Voyage into the Levant: A brief Relation of a Journey lately per-
formed by Mr. Henry Blunt, Andrew Crooke, London, 1650, pp. 59-60.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XX - Dicembre 2023
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)