| Battle of Formentera (1529) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Barbarossa galley in France 1543. | |||||||
| |||||||
| 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 | ||||||
TheBattle of Formentara occurred on 28 October 1529 when anOttoman fleet underAydin Reis captured a small Spanish fleet of eightgalleys off the island ofFormentera nearIbiza.[1][2]
In 1529, fifteenBarbary ships fromAlgiers underAydin Reis, known as Caccia Diavolo, were raiding the coast ofValencia and ferryingMoriscos from Spain to Algeria.[3] He capitalized on the fact that most of the attention of the Spanish armada was put in escorting the Habsburg emperorCharles V toGenoa.[4] Aydin was joined by four Barbaryfustas, who alerted him thatRodrigo Portuondo [es], captain of the galley squad ofGranada, had returned from Genoa and was waiting for him with eight galleys after hearing about his sackings inIbiza.[4]
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 ofFormentera. When he saw Portuondo's fleet arrive nonetheless, the Ottoman abandoned the cargo and non-combatants in Formentera and ordered to flee.[4]
Portuondo chased Aydin abandoning all prudence, but his slave galleys, most of them recentFrench prisoners from theItalian War of 1521–1526, proved unreliable to keep the pace. The Spanish ships became thus 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, with Portuondo dying in a desperate defense. Aydin then attacked the same way the stunned rest of the fleet, one by one at time, with the help of his advantage in numbers. At the end, all but one of the eight Spanish galleys were taken.[5]
The prisoners were taken as slaves to therecently conquered city ofAlgiers,[2] while 1000 Muslim galley slaves were liberated.[6] Portuondo was succeeded byÁlvaro de Bazán the Elder at the head of the squad of Granada.[7]