View source for Battle of the Dardanelles (1656)

{{Short description|1656 naval battle}}
{{For|other battles with the same name|Battle of the Dardanelles (disambiguation){{!}}Battle of the Dardanelles}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict    = Third Battle of the Dardanelles
| partof      = the [[Cretan War (1645–1669)|Ottoman-Venetian War over Crete]]
| image       = Battle of the Dardanelles (1656)(Pieter Casteleyn, 1657).jpg
| image_size  = 300
| caption     = Battle of the Dardanelles, by Pieter Casteleyn, 1657.
| date        = 26 June 1656
| place       = [[Dardanelles]] Straits
| coordinates = {{Coord|40.2|26.4|display=inline,title}}
| result      = Venetian–Maltese victory
| combatant1  = {{flag|Republic of Venice}}<br>{{flagicon|SMOM}} [[History of Malta under the Order of Saint John|Order of Saint John]]
| combatant2  = [[File:Naval Ensign of the Ottoman Empire (1453–1793).svg|25px]] [[Ottoman Empire]]
| commander1  = {{flagicon|Republic of Venice}} [[Lorenzo Marcello]]{{KIA}}<br>{{flagicon|Republic of Venice}} Pietro Bembo<br>{{flagicon|Republic of Venice}} Barbado Badoer<br>{{flagicon|SMOM}} [[Gregorio Carafa]]
| commander2  = [[File:Naval Ensign of the Ottoman Empire (1453–1793).svg|25px]] Kenan Pasha
| strength1   = 67 ships
*29 sailing ships
*7 galeasses
*31 [[galley]]s
| strength2   = 98 ships
*28 sailing ships
*9 galleasses
*61 [[galley]]s
| casualties1 = 3 ships destroyed or captured
| casualties2 = 82 ships destroyed or captured
}}
{{Campaignbox Cretan War (1645-1669)}}
The '''Third Battle of the Dardanelles''' in the [[Cretan War (1645–1669)|Fifth Ottoman-Venetian War]] took place on 26  and 27 June 1656 inside the [[Dardanelles Strait]]. The battle was a clear victory for [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] and the [[Knights Hospitaller]] over the [[Ottoman Empire]], although their commander, [[Lorenzo Marcello]], was killed on the first day.

== Background ==
Since 1645, Venice and the Ottoman Empire had been at war over the possession of the island of [[Crete]]. Ottoman forces had captured most of the island in the early years of the war, but were unable to seize its capital, the heavily fortified city of Candia (modern [[Heraklion]]). The Venetians had endeavoured to cut off supplies and reinforcements to the Ottoman army, and attempted several times to blockade the Straits of the Dardanelles, through which the Ottoman fleet had to sail to reach the [[Aegean Sea]] from its base around [[Istanbul|Constantinople]].

== Preface ==
Marcello reached the island of [[Imbros]], outside the Dardanelles Strait, on 23 May 1656 with 13 [[sailing ships]], 6 [[galleass]]es and 24 [[galleys]] as well as some more vessels under Pietro Bembo. On 11 June, 7 [[Knights Hospitaller|Maltese]] galleys under Gregorio Carafa arrived, making a total of 29 sailing ships, 7 galleasses and 31 galleys.<ref name=Setton182>Setton (1991), p. 182</ref><ref name=Anderson159>Anderson (1956), p. 159</ref>

On 23 June the Ottomans, under Kenan or Chinam Pasha, a Russian convert, appeared in the Strait with 28 sailing ships, 9 galleasses and 61 galleys. On 24 June Ottoman land [[Artillery battery|batteries]] on either side of the Straits tried to drive the Venetians off but failed.<ref name=Setton182/><ref name=Anderson159/>

== Battle ==
In the morning of 26 June the wind was from the north, and the Ottomans made good progress, the Venetian galleys being unable to assist their sailing ships. Then the wind backed, turning to the SE, trapping the Ottomans against the [[Asia]]n side of the Strait just below the Narrows, and a [[mêlée]] ensued.  Kenan Pasha got back past the Narrows with 14 galleys but the rest were either captured, sunk or burnt.<ref name=Setton182/> ''Sultan''/''San Marco'' was the most advanced Venetian ship and did the most to prevent the Ottoman retreat, but she ran aground under the Ottoman guns and was abandoned.

During the course of the battle, the Venetian Captain General Marcello was killed by a direct cannon hit, but his death kept a secret from all but his second, the ''provedditore'' of the fleet Barbaro Badoer.

Some small-scale fighting happened the next day, and at the end of it, the Ottoman fleet had lost 4 large sailing ships, 2 pinks, 5 galleasses and 13 galleys captured, and 22 sailing ships, 4 galleasses and 34 galleys sunk or burnt. Only 2 Ottoman sailing ships and 14 galleys escaped. Of the captured ships, Malta received 2 galleasses, 8 galleys and 1 "super galley" (or galleass?). The Venetians lost 3 sailing ships burnt and their casualties were 207 killed, 260 wounded and 94 missing. Maltese casualties were 40 killed and 100 or more wounded. Some 5,000 Christian [[Galley slave|slaves]] employed in the Ottoman fleet were freed.<ref name=Setton183>Setton (1991), p. 183</ref>

== Aftermath ==
It was the heaviest naval defeat the Ottomans had suffered since the [[Battle of Lepanto (1571)|Battle of Lepanto]],<ref name="Setton183" /><ref name=Finkel248>Finkel (2006), p. 248</ref> and enabled the Venetians to occupy the strategically important islands of [[Tenedos]] and [[Lemnos]], thus establishing a tight blockade of the Straits.<ref>Setton (1991), pp. 183-185</ref> As a result, the resupply of Crete was effectively cut off, and Constantinople itself suffered a shortage of food during the winter.<ref>Finkel (2006), pp. 251-252</ref> In a [[Battle of the Dardanelles (1657)|three-day battle]] in July 1657, however, the blockade would be broken again.<ref>Setton (1991), pp. 186-188</ref>

== Ships involved ==
=== Christian fleet ===

==== Venice (Lorenzo Marcello, with Pietro Bembo) ====
*''Fregata Contarini''
*''Tomaso Francesco''
*''Principessa grande''
*''Tre Re''
*''Croce d'Oro''
*''Principessa piccola''
*''Gallo d'Oro''
*''Sacrificio d'Abram''
*''Aquila Coronata'' (''Kronede Arend'')
*''Profeta Samuel''
*''Arma di Nassau'' - Burnt
*''Lionessa''
*''Arma di Lech''
*''Leon Negro''
*''Madonna del Carmine''
*''Santa Caterina''
*''Profeta Elia''
*''San Bartolamio''
*''Fama Volante''
*''Ercole''
*''Rosa Bianca''
*''Speranza'' (or ''San Nicola'')
*''Principe di Colognia''
*''San Pietro'' (hired Dutch) - Burnt
*''Sultana''/''San Marco'' (ex-Ottoman) - Aground, abandoned and burnt
*''Santa Margarita''
*''Paramor''
*''?''
*''?''
*7 galleasses
*24 galleys

==== Malta (Gregorio Carafa) ====
*7 galleys

=== Ottoman Empire (Kenan Pasha) ===
*4 large sailing ships - Captured
*24 other sailing ships - 22 sunk/burnt
*2 pinks - Captured
*9 galleasses - 5 captured, 4 sunk/burnt
*61 galleys - 13 captured, 34 sunk/burnt

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Sources ==
{{Commons category|Battle of the Dardanelles (1656)}}
* {{Naval Wars in the Levant 1559–1853}} <!-- Anderson 1952 -->
* {{cite book | last=Finkel | first=Caroline | title=Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923 | publisher=John Murray | location=London | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-7195-6112-2 }}
* {{Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century}} <!-- Setton 1991 -->

{{Ottoman battles}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1656 in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:1650s in the Republic of Venice]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1656|Dardanelles]]
[[Category:Naval battles of the Cretan War (1645–1669)|Dardanelles 1656]]
[[Category:Naval battles involving the Knights Hospitaller|Dardanelles 1656]]
[[Category:History of the Dardanelles]]