How an Ottoman Admiral Used European Maps to Raid the Atlantic in 1586
In short: Murat Reis the Elder was a legendary corsair who mastered naval warfare from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. By combining traditional galley tactics with advanced cartography, he outmaneuvered European powers, captured high-ranking governors, and eventually died in a final, decisive battle against a massive, cannon-heavy warship known as the Black Hell.
Born on Rhodes to an Albanian family, Murat Reis began his career as a youth under the corsair Dragut. His rise was swift; by 1534, he was in Constantinople, where he helped construct warships before joining the naval campaigns of Turgut Reis. His early tactical prowess was cemented at the 1538 Battle of Preveza, where he helped secure an Ottoman victory against the Holy League by holding the center-rear of a Y-shaped fleet formation.
His career spanned vast geographies. As Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Ocean fleet, he faced the Portuguese, who were better equipped for open-ocean combat. Later, in 1570, he played a critical role in the conquest of Cyprus by clearing the seas between Crete and Rhodes. Perhaps his most audacious feat occurred in 1586, when he led the first Barbary corsair expedition into the Atlantic. Using maps incorporated by Piri Reis, he navigated his galleys to Lanzarote, captured the Spanish governor, and slipped past a waiting Spanish fleet by hiding in thick fog banks.
Murat Reis remained a formidable threat until his final days. In 1609, he engaged a joint French-Maltese fleet off Cyprus, targeting the formidable Red Galleon—a vessel armed with 90 cannons that the Ottomans dubbed the Black Hell. Despite his age, he successfully captured the ship and several others, seizing 160 cannons and 2,000 muskets. He died from wounds sustained during this engagement. Today, his legacy persists in the Turkish Navy, which has named several submarines in his honor, and in the Spanish Golden Age literature of writers like Miguel de Cervantes.
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