Forces
- See Battle of Lepanto order of battle for a detailed list of ships and commanders involved in the battle.
The members of the Holy League were Spain (including the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Sardinia as part of the Spanish possessions), the Republic of Venice, the Papacy, the Republic of Genoa, the Duchy of Savoy and the Knights Hospitaller. Its fleet consisted of 206 galleys and 6 Venetian galleasses (large new galleys, invented by the Venetians, which carried substantial artillery) and was commanded by Don John of Austria, the illegitimate son of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles I of Spain and V of the Holy Roman Empire, and half-brother of Philip II of Spain, supported by the Venetian Admiral Sebastiano Venier and the Papal Admiral Marcantonio Colonna in the center; Genoese Admiral Gianandrea Doria on the right wing and Venetian Admiral Agostino Barbarigo on the left wing.
The force of the Holy League consisted of the following fleets:
6 galleasses and 109 galleys of the Republic of Venice; 55 galleys of the Spanish Empire (including 23 galleys from Naples and 3 galleys from Savoy); 27 galleys from the Republic of Genoa; 12 galleys from the Papal States (including 3 from Tuscany) and 3 galleys from the Knights of Malta.
This fleet of the Christian alliance was manned by 44,875 sailors and oarsmen. In addition, it carried almost 28,500 fighting troops, the following soldiers were reported as being available for service in the fleet before the battle:
5,000 Venetian, 1,500 Papal, 5,000 German, 8,000 Spanish, 5,000 Italian and 4,000 gentlemen adventurers.
The Venetian vessels were too lightly manned despite having 5,000 soldiers and the Venetian oarsmen being freeman and allowed to carry arms. After long negotiations the Venetians allowed 2,500 Italians and 1,500 Spanish troops in addition on their vessels.
The Ottoman galleys were manned by 13,000 experienced sailors—generally drawn from the maritime nations of the Ottoman Empire, namely Berbers, Greeks, Syrians, and Egyptians—and 34,000 soldiers. Ali Pasha, the Ottoman admiral (Kapudan-i Derya ), supported by the corsairs Chulouk Bey of Alexandria and Uluç Ali, commanded an Ottoman force of 222 war galleys, 56 galliots, and some smaller vessels. The Turks had skilled and experienced crews of sailors but were significantly deficient in their elite corps of Janissaries. The number of oarsmen was about 37,000, virtually all of them slaves.
An advantage for the Christians was their numerical superiority in guns and cannon aboard their ships. It is estimated the Christians had 1,815 guns, while the Turks had only 750 with insufficient ammunition. The Christians embarked with their much improved arquebusier and musketeer forces, while the Ottomans trusted in their greatly feared composite bowmen.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Lepanto
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