Turgut Reis (also Dragut, Torghoud) was born in the vicinity of Bodrum in the year 1485 when he was just a teenager and came to the attention of an army officer for his proficiency in weapons. The soldier decided to tutor him in the use of advanced weapons and become a mariner and Reis quickly became skilled as an artillery expert. As his carrier blossomed, he was given the chance to journey to Egypt and become part of the Ottoman overthrow of the local populous upon the death of his benefactor relocated to Alexandria to eventually be part of the Sinan Pasha fleet of ships. With the mastery of ship artillery, his presence was known and respected and gained increased knowledge of the working of the sea and became a captain of a ship himself.

With the capture of a few vessels, it was not long until he was given complete control and proprietorship of his ship which led to a vessel of higher quality and began his mastery of seizing ships in the Mediterranean region. In 1520 he was fortunate to form an alliance with Hayreddin Barbarossa and under his care with the skills that Reis presented was quickly elevated to Chief Lieutenant with the responsibility of additional ships. When his mentor Barbarossa died it was the logical choice for Reis to take his place and his exploits offered many opportunities of Chief Governor of Algeria in 1548, commander of the fleet in 1552, and Pasha of Tripoli in 1556. Now armed with a powerful navy under his command and over a thousand men in 1565 attacked Fort St. Elmo and he was mortally wounded in the bombardment.


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