Sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir

1563 CE.

Shown on the map at 35.697°, -0.633°.

The sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir of 1563 is a major attempt by the regency of Algiers to retake the cities of Mers el-Kébir and Oran from the Spanish. Between April and June 1563 in the larger Ottoman-Habsburg wars of the Mediterranean, the Regency of Algiers launched a major military offensive to retake the Spanish military-bases of Oran and Mers el Kébir on the Mediterranean North African coast of Algeria occupied by Spain since 1505. The states of Algiers and Triòli, the Principalities of Kabyle (Kuku and Beni Abbes), and other vassal tribes combined forces as one army under Hasan Pasha, son of Hayreddin Barbarossa, Jafar Catania, Dragut and son of Ahmed Belkadi the sultan of Kuku kingdom. 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 and lead to Algerians forces retreat.

Text from the Wikipedia article Sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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