Battle of Formentera

Battle of Formentera (1529)
Barbarossa galley in France 1543.
Date 1529 Location Formentera Result Algerian victory
Belligerents
Regency of Algiers	Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Aydin Reis	Rodrigo Portuondo †
Strength
15 galleys 4 fustas	8 galleys
Casualties and losses
Minor	7 galleys captured

The Battle of Formentara occurred on 28 October 1529 when an Ottoman fleet under Aydin Reis captured a small Spanish fleet of eight galleys off the island of Formentera near Ibiza.

Background

In 1529, fifteen Barbary ships from Algiers under Aydin Reis, known as Caccia Diavolo, were raiding the coast of Valencia and ferrying Moriscos from Spain to Algeria. He capitalized on the fact that most of the attention of the Spanish armada was put in escorting the Habsburg emperor Charles V to Genoa. Aydin was joined by four Barbary fustas, who alerted him that Rodrigo Portuondo, captain of the galley squad of Granada, had returned from Genoa and was waiting for him with eight galleys after hearing about his sackings in Ibiza.

Previous movements

Aydin headed quickly for Algiers, with his fleet unprepared to give battle due to its load of passengers, slaves and goods, but found no favorable wind, so he tried to hide in the coast of Formentera. When he saw Portuondo's fleet arrive nonetheless, the Ottoman abandoned the cargo and non-combatants in Formentera and ordered to flee.

Battle

Underestimating his rival, Portuondo chased Aydin abandoning all prudence, but his slave galleys, most of them recent French prisoners from the Italian War of 1521–1526, proved unreliable to keep the pace. The Spanish ships became increasingly separated, to the point Portuondo's flagship was practically alone at the head of the convoy. When Aydin saw his chance, he turned back and assaulted the ship with three of his own, capturing it quickly, and then attacked the same way the stunned rest of the fleet.

Aftermath

Portuondo was killed in the battle, seven of his eight galleys were captured, and his soldiers were taken as slaves to the recently conquered city of Algiers, and 1000 Muslim galley slaves were liberated. Portuondo was succeeded by Álvaro de Bazán the Elder at the head of the squad of Granada.

References

• Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1895). Armada Española, desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón, tomo I. Sucesores de Ribadeneyra.
• Garnier, Edith L'Alliance Impie Editions du Felin, 2008, Paris ISBN 978-2-86645-678-8 Interview