The sea and nation-building: Between a privately-owned merchant fleet and a revolutionary National Navy, 1821-1827 1

Abstract

Shipping proved pivotal for the outcome of the Greek War of Independence, one of the important pillars of the rebellious Greeks on a military, economic, and political front. Greeks, subjects of the Ottoman Sultan, when they revolted had a comparative advantage over their rulers. The merchant captains who took part in the War of Independence were highly experienced seamen who had ploughed the troubled Mediterranean Sea for decades during the Napoleonic wars. In naval operations, the Greek Navy could not confront directly the Ottoman Imperial Navy at any major naval battle. The Ottoman Navy was a regular fleet with officers trained according to Western European standards consisting, in March 1821, of 81 warships, of which 30 were ships of the line. Greeks were highly experienced seamen in the Mediterranean and had confronted western European privateering but also Barbary corsairing. The war brought about the restructuring of the trade routes and the reconfiguration of shipping and trade in the Aegean.