The Battle of Ponza (1552) was a naval battle that occurred near the Italian island of Ponza. The battle was fought between a Franco-Ottoman fleet under Dragut and a Spanish-Genoese fleet commanded by Andrea Doria. The latter were attempting to carry troops to Naples, but were diverted and lost seven galleys captured. The battle made it easier for the Ottoman fleet to raid the coasts of Sicily, Sardinia, and Italy for the next three years.
Opposing fleets
The Ottoman fleet consisted of 100 galleys which had been sent by Suleiman the Magnificent to the Western Mediterranean when Henry II entered into conflict with Charles V in the Italian War of 1551-59. The fleet was accompanied by three French galleys under the French ambassador Gabriel de Luetz d'Aramon, who accompanied the Ottomans from Istanbul in their raids along the coast of Calabria in Southern Italy, capturing the city of Reggio.
The Spanish and Genoese fleet consisted of 39 galleys under the command of Andrea Doria. Twenty of the galleys in the Genoese fleet belonged personally to Doria, six to an Antonio Doria and two to the House of Grimaldi of Monaco.
Battle
Doria and Juan de Mendoza were ordered to carry supplies and troops from Ostia to Naples, where Viceroy Pedro de Toledo was defending against a seaborn Franco-Ottoman attack. Having in command 39 galleys against the 150 Ottoman and French ships operating throughout, they were to navigate as stealthily as possible and evade them. Between the islands of Ponza and Terracina, they were ambushed by Dragut hiding nearby with 100 galleys. Doria and Mendoza immediately escaped towards Sardinia while Dragut pounced on their rear guard, capturing seven of the galleys carrying troops.
Aftermath
After the battle, the Franco-Ottoman fleet entered Majorca on 13 August 1552. The Ottomans resisted pressure from the French to send their fleet further west, perhaps for personal reasons of the commander or due to the continuing war with Persia. The victory gave the Ottomans better facility to attack Sicily, Sardinia, and the coasts of Italy for the next three years. After the battle, the Ottoman fleet wintered in Chios, where it was joined by the French fleet of Baron de la Garde, ready for major naval operations the following year, including the, later failed, Invasion of Corsica in 1553.
In 1560 the nephew of Doria, Giovanni Andrea Doria, led another attempt to thwart Dragut at the Battle of Djerba, but was defeated and Dragut continued his raiding of the Northern Mediterranean shores until his death five years later.