Capture of Muscat (1552)

Capture of Muscat
Part of Ottoman campaign against Hormuz Ottoman–Portuguese War (1538–1557)
Map of the Ottoman campaign against Hormuz.
Date August 1552 Location Muscat Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Portuguese Empire	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
	Piri Reis Seydi Ali Reis
Strength
60 troops	25 galleys 1200 troops (4 galleons 25 galleys 850 troops)
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown
Capture of Muscat (1552) Location within Oman

Coordinates: 23°36′31″N 58°35′31″E / 23.60861°N 58.59194°E / 23.60861; 58.59194

The Capture of Muscat occurred in 1552, when an Ottoman fleet under Piri Reis attacked Muscat, in modern Oman, and plundered the town from the Portuguese. These events followed the important Ottoman defeat in the Second Siege of Diu in 1546, which put a stop to their attempts in India, but also the successful Capture of Aden (1548), which allowed the Ottomans to resist the Portuguese in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean.

The city, before then a possession of the King of Hormuz, had been in Portuguese hands since 1507, when a Portuguese fleet under Afonso de Albuquerque attacked the city, destroyed it, and then came back soon after to occupy it.

The Ottomans attempted to intervene against the Portuguese presence, and four Ottoman ships bombarded the city in 1546.

The city was again attacked by the Ottomans in 1552 with a larger fleet under Piri Reis and Seydi Ali Reis. The ultimate objective was to seize the islands of Hormuz and Bahrain, in order to block Portuguese access to the Persian Gulf and thus reestablish Ottoman control of the Indian Ocean Trade.