The Battle of Gerontas (Greek: Ναυμαχία του Γέροντα) was a naval battle fought close to the island of Leros in the southeast Aegean Sea. On 10 September [O.S. 29 August] 1824, a Greek fleet of 75 ships defeated an Ottoman armada of 100 ships contributed by Egypt, Tunisia and Tripoli.
The Battle of Gerontas was one of the most decisive naval engagements of the Greek War of Independence and secured the island of Samos under Greek control.
Background
In August 1824, the Ottomans looked to secure the island of Samos off the coast of Asia Minor, a previous attempt launched earlier in the month on 5 August (O.S.) resulted in an Ottoman defeat at the Battle of Samos and caused delay. By 29 August, the Ottoman fleet had grown to some 100 warships and launched an attack on the scattered Greek forces whose fleet made up a force of some 70-75 warships.
The battle
After the battle off Kos island on 24 August 1824, the Greek detachment of 15 ships was anchored in the Gerontas bay, while the rest of the fleet drifted in the open sea because of the lack of a wind. On the morning of 29 August 1824, the 86 warships of the Ottoman and Egyptian flotilla detected the Greek fleet and proceeded with a pincer movement, using advantageous winds. The Greek fleet in the bay had to resort to towing their ships by lifeboats to reach a more advantageous position for fighting.
The wave of Greek fireships disorganized the Ottoman lines sufficiently for all of the Greek ships to escape from Gerontas bay. Later a shift in the wind put the Greek fleet in the advantage, allowing a second attack by their fireships. One of the fireships burned the Tunisian flotilla flagship. Because the Greek fireships selectively targeted the enemy flagships, the Ottoman commanders panicked and ordered their ships to leave the battle lines, leading to confusion and the unorganized retreat of the Ottoman forces.