Battle of Suez (1541)

Date26 April 1541^[1]

Location

Suez, Egypt

29°58′N 32°33′E / 29.967°N 32.550°E / 29.967; 32.550

Result Ottoman victory

Battle of Suez
Part of the Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts (1538–1559)
Portuguese fleet in Suez 1541
Date 26 April 1541[1] Location Suez, Egypt 29°58′N 32°33′E / 29.967°N 32.550°E / 29.967; 32.550 Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Portuguese Empire	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Estêvão da Gama Cristóvão da Gama	Davud Pasha
Strength
16 warships[2] 250 soldiers[2]	2,000 horsemen[3]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Battle of Suez occurred in 1541 and was a failed attack by the Portuguese against the Ottomans.^[4][5]

In 1541 the Portuguese fleet under the command of the Portuguese governor of India Estêvão da Gama and his brother Cristóvão da Gama penetrated into the Red Sea.^[6] The Portuguese fleet consisted of 80 ships and 2,300 soldiers.^[4] After sacking Suakin, the governor detached 16 light oarvessels and 250 picked men.^[2] The aim was to attack Suez but the attack was a failure as the heavy defence as well as the opposition of Davud Pasha and the Ottoman artillery forced the Portuguese to retreat.^[5][4][7][6] A few retreating Portuguese forces which landed at Massawa would be ambushed by the Adal Sultanate at the Battle of Massawa in the same year.^[8]

For the duration of the 1541 Suez campaign, the Portuguese remained within the Red Sea for seven months, never being confronted by the Ottoman navy, while Muslim trade was paralysed.^[9]