Preparations for Naval Warfare

By the end of the 18th century, the Christian maritime communities of the Aegean had reached their peak. Islanders from Argosaronikos, the Cyclades, the coast of Asia Minor and the eastern Aegean navigated the Mediterranean and made a profit from the maritime trade. International circumstances favoured the Greek merchant fleet; the competition between the English and the French for control of the Mediterranean, continuous wars and the embargo on French ports after the French Revolution, facilitated the transport of goods to the Ottoman Empire and Russia. Meanwhile, international agreements (Kuchuk Kainargi, 1774) and control of the piratical activity also contribtued to easier navigation and distribution of goods.

Greek captain, 1818

The Napoleonic wars (1796-1814): this was a period of upheaval and conflict which extended as far as southeastern Europe and northern Africa.

Seamen's economic prosperity resulted in the growth of the merchant fleet. They bought modern ships and remodelled the old ones; they also launched enterprises that broke the embargo of the French ports during Napoleonic wars: one of the results of these wars was that the ships were equipped with light weapons (ship owners having obtained the consent of the Ottoman authorities on the grounds that pirates were still a real danger in the Mediterranean). At the beginning of the 19th century, the navy could effectively deal with the economic and military dangers it faced, and crews had developed resistance tactics. Moreover, after the middle of the 17th century, many seamen had served in western navies and had gained valuable experience of the Mediterranean; their knowledge proved useful twenty years later in the naval battles of the Greek Revolution.

Sea man from Hydra