Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

Once in control of the land, Khayreddin improved his flotilla and sought
control of the seas. In 1529, he launched the construction of two galleys and
within a short time the inner harbor of Algiers was transformed to a
shipbuilding yard. 80 That was the beginning of the Algerian navy. From a mere
6 galleots at the beginning, the fleet reached 36 vessels, for the most part
galleys, in the early 1530s. Consequently, Khayreddin could resume his
original activity: corsairing. In that, he relied on able corsairs like Salih Rais,
Dragut Rais (Turghud) or later El-Euldj Ali (Ochiali). Those Ri’yas were both
feared and respected by their Christian adversaries. Dragut, for example,
was the greatest of the leaders of the age—an expert in almost every
branch of the science of war, in command of a large body of the fiercest
fighters of the day, who ever feared the wrath of Dragut more than the
swords of the enemy. 81
From then onwards, for the Christian enemies Algiers, those Algerian corsairs
became ‘the Scourge of Christendom’:
The Algerine galleots infested every part of the Western Mediterranean,
levied contributions of slaves and treasure upon the Balearic Isles and
the coasts of Spain, and even passed beyond the straits to waylay the
argosies which were returning to Cadiz laden with the gold and jewels
of the Indies. Nothing was safe from their attacks; not a vessel ran the
gauntlet of the Barbary coast in her passage from Spain to Italy without
many a heart quaking within her. The “Scourge of Christendom” had
begun, which was to keep all the nations of Europe in perpetual alarm
for three centuries. The Algerine Corsairs were masters of the sea, and
they made their mastery felt by all who dared to cross their path; and not
merchantmen only, but galleys-royal of his Catholic Majesty learnt to
dread the creak of the Turkish rowlock. 82
80 Rang, Régence d’Alger, pp. 368-70.
81 Currey, Sea-Wolves, pp. 302-3.
82 Lane-Poole, Barbary Corsairs, p. 57. In 1529, the Algerian corsairs made a resounding prize while
on a Moors’ rescue mission: seven Spanish royal galleys, including the flagship, were captured—an
unprecedented feat in the whole history of the Mediterranean Basin.
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