| Raid on La Goulette (1617) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofSpanish–Ottoman wars | |||||||
 Tunis and La Goulette in 1535. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Spanish Empire | .svg) Eyalet of Tunis | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Ottavio d'Aragona | Yusuf Dey | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1 galleon 3 naos 1 patache 6 galleys | 10 ships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Minor | All vessels destroyed | ||||||
Theraid on La Goulette of 1617 was a naval attack by Sicilian-Spanish captainOttavio d'Aragona onLa Goulette, the port ofOttoman Tunisia, where he destroyed the fleet in port in response to acts of localBarbary pirates.
In October 1617, in spite of continuous anti-piratic activities by the Spanish navy,Viceroy of Naples,Pedro Téllez-Girón, Duke of Osuna learned about new Ottoman and Barbary pirates, leading him to order a raid against the nearby state of the Ottoman Tunisia, an usual center of Muslim piracy. The attack fell onOttavio d'Aragona, a veteran in Osuna's service who had already carried on araid on Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Osuna ordered him to "burn and put to the sword all kinds of privateers he found" (abrasar y pasar a cuchillo todo género de corsarios que hallasen).[1] Ottavio received command of sixgalleys, among them the flagship of Naples,La Negra, along with onegalleon, onepatache and three naos.[1]
As in previous Spanish attacks to La Goulette, d'Aragona disembarked in the harbor ofLa Goulette, where he found the local armada in port, at the time composed by ten sailing ships. He attacked and burn the ships, one of them captained byYusuf Dey, commander of Tunis, who promptly escaped the ship and took refuge in the fortress of La Goulette. d'Aragona sacked little as the fire destroyed most of the ships' goods, but he took a small amount of it and some goldsequins.[1]
Eleven days after leaving Tunis, d'Aragona's fleet found a fleet of twelve Ottoman galleys heading there. He attacked them and captured seven, among them the flagship, captained by the formerPasha ofSaloni, while the other three escaped. The Duke of Osuna had the Pasha treated as a guest, allowing him to return toConstantinople with fifteen slaves in order to collect his ransom, while leaving his teenage son as a hostage. The ransom included various gifts, among them teacups with the supposed ability of breaking when a poisoned beverage was poured on them.[2]
The Spanish navy assaulted La Goulette successfully again thrice in the following years, byFrancisco de Ribera en 1619, Diego Pimentel in 1621 andÁlvaro de Bazán y Benavides in 1623, destroying the local privateer ships.[3][page needed]