PIRI REIS - 1552 (Ottoman campaign against Hormuz)

Piri Reis expedition, 1552 (Ottoman campaign against Hormuz). Three years later Piri Reis sailed out from Suez again with 30 ships and the goal of wresting Hormuz Island, the key to the Persian Gulf, from Portugal. Piri Reis sacked Muscat on his way. Turning further east, Piri Reis failed to capture Hormuz, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf. He sacked the town, but the Portuguese fortress remained intact. Faced with reports of an approaching Portuguese fleet, Piri Reis decided to withdraw the fleet to Basra. He returned to Suez with two galleys which were his personal property. The sultan sentenced Piri Reis to death for these acts and had him executed in 1553. Following these events, the Portuguese dispatched considerable reinforcements to Hormuz, and the following year defeated an Ottoman fleet at the Battle of the Strait of Hormuz.