THE WAR OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE 1821 TO 1833 BY W.ALISON PHILLIPS 1897

68 THE WAR OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE
the islands, and the necessity of fitting out a fleet
against the very people from whom it had hitherto
drawn its naval recruits. The Turks themselves were
no sailors,
helpless at sea.
They
and, invincible as warriors on land, were
were now forced to man their
ships with untrained fishermen and boatmen, and a
motley crowd of Algerine pirates and Maltese and
Genoese adventurers. Under these untoward circumstances,
though
the revolt of Samos on the 30th of
April had impressed upon them again the necessity
for action, it was not till the 3rd of June that the
Ottoman fleet left the Dardanelles. It consisted even
now of only two line-of-battle ships, three frigates,
and three sloops of war, and these were undermanned,
and sailed by crews who had but a rudimentary knowledge
of seamanship.
The Greek fleet had meanwhile divided into two
squadrons, of which the larger, consisting of thirtyseven
sail, under Admiral Tombazes, cruised in the
Archipelago, with a view to intercepting the Ottoman
fleet. The other, which sailed to blockade Patras, and
watch the coasts of Epirus, was commanded by
Andreas Miaoulis, a name destined to become famous
in the annals of the war.
The character of this remarkable man raises him
high above the crowd of self-seeking ruffians by whom