Juan Ramon Bea Cebrian, EA5PC will be active with special call AM5BDL from Torrent, Valencia, Spain, commemorating 750th Anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto.
He will operate on HF Bands.
QSL via email request.
Information from his qrz page:
AM5BDL. 750 ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF LEPANTO
OCTOBER 7.
450 ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF LEPANTO
In 1453 the Muslim expansion had culminated with the taking of Constantinople but, to the chagrin of the Christians, their advance would not end there. The Turkish Ottoman Empire took great care of its fleet and made it the perfect weapon to boycott, throughout the entire Mediterranean, the trade routes that linked Europe to the East. In 1522 Suleiman the Magnificent drove out the Knights of St. John at Rhodes, and in 1526 he crushed the Hungarians, leaving everything ready for a future invasion of Europe. However, after a long siege over Vienna, Suleiman had to flee after being expelled. In contrast, he further assured his control over the Mediterranean by conquering the squares of Algiers and Tripoli, and already in 1570 the Ottomans took control of Tunisia while Salim II took Cyprus, which provoked the Christian reaction to the risk of invasion.
Pope Pius V, author of the phrase: "I will take up arms against the Turk", had been trying for years to form the Holy League, which did not prosper due to the difference of interests of the participants. He finally succeeded by reuniting the forces of the Papal States, the Republic of Venice and Spain, reigned by Felipe II, who was worried about losing the belongings of North Africa that his father, the Emperor Charles V., had conquered. The Holy League reunited a total of 80,000 men and an army of 200 galleys, all of them congregated in Messina (Sicily), under the command of Don Juan de Austria, brother by paternal way of Felipe II and one of the greatest generals in history.
On September 15, 1571, the Christian fleet left for Cephalonia, at the news that the Muslims had gathered in the Gulf of Lepanto, adding a total of 270 warships. On October 7 of the same year, the Christian fleet manages to see the Muslim one led by Ali Pasha, Siroco, Kodja and Dragut, forming a strategic position called "half moon", so the Spanish was strategically formed in 4 different bodies as follows:
• Juan Andrea Doria, with 54 galleys, in the right body.
• Juan de Austria, with 64 galleys, in the center.
• Agustino Barbarigo, with 53 galleys, on the left.
• And the fourth, as a rescue or reserve squad, Don Álvaro de Bazán, Marqués de Santa Cruz, with 30 other galleys.
How could it be otherwise, Don Juan de Austria started the naval combat from the center, with a clean shot against the ships of Ali Pasha, who lost 7 ships at a time. In return, Pashá makes his ships advance frontally towards Don Juan, in an extremely heroic act that causes a horrifying clash of cannon shots, which in a few minutes fills the sky with a black smoke of war. However, the flagship of this body of Muslims was taken, causing the entire central body of Pasha to retreat in disarray.
The right body of the Turks, advanced next to the rocks of the coast in order to attack the main ship of Barbarigo, which was surrounded by eight Turkish warships, which managed to capture the ship and kill Barbarigo with an arrow in an eye. The Turkish left line, for its part, tried to surround the fleet commanded by Andre Doria, thus managing to break its row of ships in two. At the same time, the Christian rearguard of Santa Cruz goes to help Barbarigo, causing the Ottoman ships that were attacking the Christian left flank, to withdraw. Andrea Doria's ships were the most damaged, and even losing their part of the battle, they managed to resist until Don Juan came to his aid. After more than 4 hours of battle, the fight turned in favor of the Christians, despite having lost 17 galleys and 8,000 men. The Turks, for their part, lost more than 25,000 men and most of their ships were destroyed or captured.
With this defeat, the myth of the invincibility of the Turkish fleet had suffered a serious blow, but the fleet was rebuilt under Selim II, Soliman's successor, and for two years they managed not to get into any battle and ally with the Berber pirates. , assuming the loss of Tunisia and La Goleta in 1573, and then counterattack with a force of between 250 and 300 warships and a contingent of about 100,000 men, thus returning to seize both places. However, after this battle, Felipe II began to worry more about keeping Flanders and Selim II about fighting the Persians, thus signing a series of truces that allowed peace in the Mediterranean for a few years.
It must be remembered that Cervantes himself fought in Lepanto, and defined the battle as: "the highest occasion that past centuries have seen, those present, nor do they expect to see those to come."
He will operate on HF Bands.
QSL via email request.
Information from his qrz page:
AM5BDL. 750 ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF LEPANTO
OCTOBER 7.
450 ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF LEPANTO
In 1453 the Muslim expansion had culminated with the taking of Constantinople but, to the chagrin of the Christians, their advance would not end there. The Turkish Ottoman Empire took great care of its fleet and made it the perfect weapon to boycott, throughout the entire Mediterranean, the trade routes that linked Europe to the East. In 1522 Suleiman the Magnificent drove out the Knights of St. John at Rhodes, and in 1526 he crushed the Hungarians, leaving everything ready for a future invasion of Europe. However, after a long siege over Vienna, Suleiman had to flee after being expelled. In contrast, he further assured his control over the Mediterranean by conquering the squares of Algiers and Tripoli, and already in 1570 the Ottomans took control of Tunisia while Salim II took Cyprus, which provoked the Christian reaction to the risk of invasion.
Pope Pius V, author of the phrase: "I will take up arms against the Turk", had been trying for years to form the Holy League, which did not prosper due to the difference of interests of the participants. He finally succeeded by reuniting the forces of the Papal States, the Republic of Venice and Spain, reigned by Felipe II, who was worried about losing the belongings of North Africa that his father, the Emperor Charles V., had conquered. The Holy League reunited a total of 80,000 men and an army of 200 galleys, all of them congregated in Messina (Sicily), under the command of Don Juan de Austria, brother by paternal way of Felipe II and one of the greatest generals in history.
On September 15, 1571, the Christian fleet left for Cephalonia, at the news that the Muslims had gathered in the Gulf of Lepanto, adding a total of 270 warships. On October 7 of the same year, the Christian fleet manages to see the Muslim one led by Ali Pasha, Siroco, Kodja and Dragut, forming a strategic position called "half moon", so the Spanish was strategically formed in 4 different bodies as follows:
• Juan Andrea Doria, with 54 galleys, in the right body.
• Juan de Austria, with 64 galleys, in the center.
• Agustino Barbarigo, with 53 galleys, on the left.
• And the fourth, as a rescue or reserve squad, Don Álvaro de Bazán, Marqués de Santa Cruz, with 30 other galleys.
How could it be otherwise, Don Juan de Austria started the naval combat from the center, with a clean shot against the ships of Ali Pasha, who lost 7 ships at a time. In return, Pashá makes his ships advance frontally towards Don Juan, in an extremely heroic act that causes a horrifying clash of cannon shots, which in a few minutes fills the sky with a black smoke of war. However, the flagship of this body of Muslims was taken, causing the entire central body of Pasha to retreat in disarray.
The right body of the Turks, advanced next to the rocks of the coast in order to attack the main ship of Barbarigo, which was surrounded by eight Turkish warships, which managed to capture the ship and kill Barbarigo with an arrow in an eye. The Turkish left line, for its part, tried to surround the fleet commanded by Andre Doria, thus managing to break its row of ships in two. At the same time, the Christian rearguard of Santa Cruz goes to help Barbarigo, causing the Ottoman ships that were attacking the Christian left flank, to withdraw. Andrea Doria's ships were the most damaged, and even losing their part of the battle, they managed to resist until Don Juan came to his aid. After more than 4 hours of battle, the fight turned in favor of the Christians, despite having lost 17 galleys and 8,000 men. The Turks, for their part, lost more than 25,000 men and most of their ships were destroyed or captured.
With this defeat, the myth of the invincibility of the Turkish fleet had suffered a serious blow, but the fleet was rebuilt under Selim II, Soliman's successor, and for two years they managed not to get into any battle and ally with the Berber pirates. , assuming the loss of Tunisia and La Goleta in 1573, and then counterattack with a force of between 250 and 300 warships and a contingent of about 100,000 men, thus returning to seize both places. However, after this battle, Felipe II began to worry more about keeping Flanders and Selim II about fighting the Persians, thus signing a series of truces that allowed peace in the Mediterranean for a few years.
It must be remembered that Cervantes himself fought in Lepanto, and defined the battle as: "the highest occasion that past centuries have seen, those present, nor do they expect to see those to come."