Bombardment of Algiers, Aug.t 27th 1816

Algiers is known as ‘El-Bahdja’ in Arabic or ‘Alger la Blanche’ in French for the glistening white of its buildings rising up from the sea. The Ottomans captured the city from the Spanish in 1529 and it remained under Ottoman rule for three centuries until the French invasion of Algeria in 1830. It was the key port of the Barbery Corsairs who pirated European ships in the Mediterranean, kidnapping the crews and demanding ransoms under threat of enslavement. This resulted in numerous attempts by various European powers to regain the city. The bombardment of Algiers was an attempt by the British and Dutch navies to stop the practice of enslaving Christians by the Dey of Algiers. A fleet of 27 ships under the command of Lord Exmouth and the HMS Queen Charlotte, bombarded the city’s harbour defenses and the Algiers fleet. After attacking the city for a day, the ships withdrew and Lord Exmouth warned the Dey that if he did not release the Christian slaves, the bombardment of the city would continue. The Dey agreed to the terms, not realising that the British ships had already exhausted their ammunition supplies.

Superb and sought after series of British naval engagements produced at the time Britain was at the height if its naval superiority. From Jenkins, “The Naval Achievements of Great Britain.”