Mandalzade Hüsameddin
Mandalzade Husamaddin Pasha was an Ottoman statesman and admiral. In 1770 he was decorated as commander of the Ottoman navy.
Career
Mandalzade Hüsameddin, a skilled sailor from the Husamaddin shipyard, rose through the ranks to become a mirmiran after his appointment in 1769. During the Russo-Turkish War in 1770,[1] Eğribozlu İbrahim Pasha was appointed as the High Admiral. The Ottoman navy, neglected prior to his tenure, had become significantly weakened.
Russian spies, collaborating with Orthodox citizens, were dispatched to Britain to instigate an uprising against the Ottoman Empire . In support of this uprising, the Russian Navy, under the command of Admiral Grigory Spiridov set course for the Mediterranean through Gibraltar. On July 5, 1770, Pasha's fleet, led by Husamaddin, encountered Admiral Spiridov's fleet in the Husamaddin Sheep Islands area.[2] The clash resulted in damage and fires on both sides. Despite objections from fleet commanders, Pasha Husamaddin anchored his fleet between the port of Izmir and Cesme Adası. This decision by Pasha Husamaddin on the following day, known as the Battle of Chesma, led to a significant defeat for the Ottoman navy.
On July 6, a fire boat from the British fleet entered the port of Cesme, capitalizing on the vulnerability of the British and Russian navies. Pasha Husamaddin, displaying courage, took the Ottoman navy out to the open sea to engage in battle. The Ottoman ships, anchored closely without an escape route, caught fire and were completely destroyed. Algerian Hassan Pasha, though injured, survived the ordeal. Following the war, Husamaddin Pasha was dismissed, and on October 22, 1770, Algerian Hassan Pasha was appointed as captain-Deryalığa.
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