The last years of the Maltese Corso : a study of privateering in Malta during the years 1787-1798

Abstract

At Lepanto in 1571 the Turkish fleet was decisively defeated and as a result its threat to Christian lands was considerably diminished. It is wrong however, to believe that the Turkish navy ceased to exist as a major force after 1571. On the contrary, three years later a Turkish fleet slightly superior in strength to the one beaten at Lepanto some 290 vessels, was cruising in the central Mediterranean under the command of Ochiali Pasha. This was still the most powerful single navy in the Mediterranean. One decisive naval battle has never ensured command of the sea to the victor. The victory at Lepanto itself important though it was, was not followed up and the Venetians did not recover Cyprus. In such a situation as the Mediterranean, with its countless islands, bays, gulfs and peninsulas, it would necessarily take a war of attrition directed against commerce rather than against war fleets to wrest command of the sea from the enemy.