Mediterranean

On 29 May 1416, a Venetian fleet under Pietro Loredan crushed a larger Ottoman armada off Gallipoli. The battle secured Venetian dominance in the Aegean, but it served as a wake-up call that forced the Ottoman Empire to modernize its navy, starting a 300-year struggle for the Mediterranean.

On 18 May 1565, Suleiman the Magnificent sent 40,000 men to take Malta. A handful of Knights and Maltese held them for four months. The bill for a single small fort should have told the Ottomans everything.