Battle of Porto Kagio
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| Battle of Porto Kagio | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the aftermath of Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) | |||||||
 Küçük Hüseyin Pasha | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
![](#/media/File:"Grand_Standard_of_the_Grand_Turk"_naval_flag,_according_to_Bowles_(1783).svg){kind=small} Ottoman Empire | Greek pirates | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Küçük Hüseyin Pasha | Lambros Katsonis | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 10 galleons | 16 sailing ships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Light | Heavy | ||||||
The Battle of Porto Kagio was a late 18th century naval engagement. Fought between an Ottoman force and Greek pirates, the battle came in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792).
An Ottoman naval force under the command of Kapudan Pasha Küçük Hüseyin Pasha destroyed the Greek fleet under the command of Lambros Katsonis, which was carrying out piracy activities in favor of Russia in the Aegean Sea and Mediterranean off the Porto Kagio in Mani Peninsula.[1]
The Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) ended with the Treaty of Jassy, signed on 10 January 1792; Greek sailor Lambros Katsonis, who carried out piracy activities against the Ottomans in the Mediterranean and Aegean Sea on behalf of Russia throughout the war, continued his activities during peacetime from the base he established in Porto Kagio on the Mani Peninsula, in the south of the Morea Eyalet. The Ottoman Empire asked Russia through diplomatic channels to convince Katsonis to refrain from attacks on the Ottoman navy. Upon receiving the confirmation of peace from Russia and the response that Katsonis was no longer under Russian protection, Sultan Selim III assigned the new Kapudan Pasha Küçük Hüseyin Pasha and Beylerbey of the Morea Eyalet, Mustafa Pasha, to eliminate Katsonis.[2]
Mustafa Pasha advanced on Mani by land and marched onto Porto Kagio. The Ottoman navy under the command of Küçük Hüseyin Pasha, on the other hand, left the Dardanelles on 10 June 1792 and advanced towards Lesbos. While it was around Lesbos, the Ottoman fleet (composed of six ships under the command of Halil Bey, which was sent to the vicinity of Naxos and Paros), caught the fleet of the pirate Karakaçan, under the retinue of Katsonis, at Çamlıca. The next day, after the main Ottoman force arrived to the region, the Greek fleet was destroyed in the Battle of Çamlıca.[3] Then, the Ottoman fleet moved towards Mani Peninsula and anchored at Cinbova Port near Portokale.