Sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir
1563 siege in North Africa / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Between April and June 1563 the Regency of Algiers launched a major military campaign to retake the Spanish military-bases of Oran and Mers el Kébir on the North African coast, occupied by Spain since 1505. The sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir of 1563 represented a major Hispano-Algerian episode in the larger Ottoman-Habsburg wars of the Mediterranean. The Kingdom of Algiers, the Principalities of Kabyle (Kuku and Beni Abbes), and other vassal tribes combined forces as one army under Hasan Pasha, son of Hayreddin Barbarossa, and Jafar Catania. The Spanish commander brothers, Alonso de Córdoba Count of Alcaudete and Martín de Córdoba, managed to hold the strongholds of Oran and Mers El Kébir, respectively, until the relief fleet of Francisco de Mendoza arrived to successfully defeat the offensive.
Sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir | |||||||
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Part of the Ottoman-Habsburg wars | |||||||
Oran's harbour. Painting of 1613 by Vicente Mestre. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Spanish Empire |
Regency of Algiers Kingdom of Ait Abbas Kingdom of Kuku France | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Alonso de Córdoba Martín de Córdoba Francisco de Mendoza y Vargas |
Hasan Pasha Jafar Catania | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1,500 men 90 guns[2] |
100,000 men 30 galleys[3] 15 galliots and fustas 5 carracks[4] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown |
Heavy human losses, 5 galliots captured, 4 carracks captured[5] |