PETAR ZELALIC

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aukepalmhof
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Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

PETAR ZELALIC

Post by aukepalmhof » Fri Jul 24, 2020 8:27 pm

The stamp shows us a portret of Captain Peter Zelalic and the ship he was sailing on the sambek of the XVII – XVIII century of which I found and Google translate: https://tehnika.lzmk.hr/sambek/

šambek, a fast and agile Mediterranean sailing ship, in use since the beginning of the XV. until the beginning of the XIX.st. century. It had sharp hull lines, a low front covered with a deck, a bow with a snout, a raised stern deck with a long barracks, three masts with Latin sails and oars, and a carrying capacity of 150-300 t. It was used for piracy, trade and fishing. On the eastern coast of the Adriatic, it was mostly built in the Bay of Kotor.

Bokeljski šambek XVII – XVIII.st century. it was an Adriatic and Mediterranean merchant and warship sailing rowing boat, which served the Bokelj family in protecting trade convoys from pirate attacks. Despite the bow linings, wider hull, and larger draft than pirate ships, it was fast and agile. With oars used when there was no wind, it was powered by Latin sails of as much as 650 m2. It was 42.5 m long, 7.2–9 m wide, 2.1 m high at the side, up to 2 m wide, up to 300 t heavy, armed with twenty or more cannons. It had a small crew, 10-12 members, and as a protective convoy ship more than 60 members

Petar Želalić
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Google translated)

Petar Želalić (1727—1811) was a knight of the Maltese order .
Biografija
Petar Želalić was born in June 1727 in Bijela to father Jova and mother Jane, nee Lučić.
"Sambek" is a type of smaller ship suitable for both trade and fishing , and especially for piracy. Captain Petar Želalić had such a ship, with a crew of only ten people. It looked like a toy in relation to the sultan's ship GREAT SULTANIA.It was a new ship, just launched into the sea, one of the most beautiful and largest Turkish ships of the time. In addition to light weapons, there were 82 cannons on it.The meeting of the two ships took place in the Aegean Sea. Warning shots were fired from the sultan's ship. Captain Želalić had no choice but to order the sails to be lowered and to wait for the ship to be stopped.
The Turks considered the entire Aegean Sea as their territorial waters. The sambek was seized and sent to the nearest Turkish port under armed Turkish command.
Zelalic and three of his close associates were transferred as slaves to the GREAT SULTANIA. There they found 83 more country men, 11 of which were from Bokelj . All of them were commanders and officers of seized or sunken Christian ships. The Turks demanded large ransoms for these slaves.

The home port of Želalić's "Sambek" was Malta . From there, no one called to offer a ransom, and Želalić did not mention his relatives in Boka. He was enslaved with his comrades for more than two years, expecting Turkish mercy, when there was no ransom. Because of that, he behaved well and gained the trust of the Turks. One Friday in September, the Turks celebrated a special ceremony. Due to great merits, Sultan Mustafa III assigned a new name to his beautiful ship. Although it still bore a great name, it was still a sultana (princess). More magnificent was the new name: OTTOMAN CROWN.

Most of the crew received shore permit a prize exit to the island of Kos, in front of which the ship was anchored. A guard of about a hundred men remained on board. Several slaves were also rewarded, but only by going on deck. There was no danger of them escaping by jumping into the sea. They would have to sail to the Turkish mainland, and it is known what would await them there. It didn't even occur to them, but something else was going through Zelalic's head.

When the time of adoration came, the guard was diluted. Some wanted to do it in a special room below deck. The others bowed enthusiastically on deck. Zelalic took advantage of this, forbade entry into the Turkish worship room so that it could not be opened from the inside, and opened the under-deck room for slaves. They grabbed poles and everything they could get their hands on, some even knives from the kitchen and pounced on the surprised guards on deck. Many guards jumped into the sea. Whoever resisted was cut down. Although he had never commanded such a large ship, Želalić took command, ordered the anchors to be raised. And set sails. Moving through the archipelago, Zelalic responded properly to the greetings of the Turkish Coast Guard. He had time to learn how the Turks did it. By the time the slow-moving news reached the Turkish guards, the OTTOMAN CROWN was out of sight.

New trouble arose when a hijacked Turkish ship approached the Maltese coast. Although Želalić did not sail under the Turkish flag, panic arose in Malta as soon as the ship was spotted. It was well known in Malta for the infamous GREAT SULTANIA. The changed name meant nothing to the Maltese. They fired at the ship from all coastal cannons. Zelalic's signals from the ship were also in vain, because the Turkish tricks were known to everyone.
Želalić had no choice but to go hunting for any ship because all the smaller ships fled as soon as they noticed him. According to one seaman, he had to fire a warning. As he used to be, so the fishermen lowered their sails from the deck and waited for fate. Happy with the outcome, they obeyed Captain Želalić to sail to Malta and announce in whose hands the Turkish ship is.
A torrent of people flocked to the shores of Malta to greet and see the hijacked Turkish ship. There was no end to the shouts and the joy. Captain Želalić was greeted as the greatest Maltese hero. The ship was valued at a fabulous sum. Not knowing what to do with so’n large ship, Želalić gave it to the Maltese knights, in whose possession the island of Malta was. At that time, Captain Petar Želalić was proclaimed a knight of the Order of Malta.
Onboard was a huge booty of precious goods, weapons and 84 thousand gold sequins of Turkish booty and 40 captured Turks. He handed over the captives to the Maltese knights, and kept the other valuables to share with his comrades. How much that value was can be seen by the fact that Želalić built two palaces in Malta from his share. As a sign of gratitude to God's help for a successful feat, he built the Church of St. Nicholas in Malta, the patron saint of sailors, which was also his baptismal glory. He did not forget his homeland either. In Bijela he built two houses, one small and one large with a house church. He left that to his brother Marko, and he certainly had more money left, because he started a family in Malta. He married Maltese Maria, the widow of the owner of the sambek.
Petar Želalić had all the conditions to live the rest of his life with his Maria in wealth, happiness and satisfaction. The adventurous spirit commanded him to continue his seafaring profession. He bought a new sambek similar to the one stolen from him by the Turks. He indulged in piracy exclusively against Turkish ships. He took revenge on them for the two years of slavery and humiliation he had to endure. He also avenged his companions who were dying of hunger and disease in the dark underdeck of a Turkish ship. He also avenged his comrades who died during the hijacking of the ship from the Turks. He went from victory to victory, feats after feats, but everything remained overshadowed by the grandiose feat that brought him great wealth and world fame.
It would be interesting to know the fate of the ship OTTOMAN CROWN. Of course, the name was immediately changed. The Knights of Malta christened him SANTISSIMO SALVATORE (Holy Savior). This offended the Turks so much that there was almost constant an Mediterranean war. To alleviate the tension, King Louis XV of France sent envoy Valle de Fleuri to Malta in August 1761 to negotiate the purchase of the ship. The negotiations were probably successful, because there was no more need for her. There is no information about the final fate of the ship.
In early September 1800, the British occupied Malta. It was on the 40th anniversary of Želalić's feat, which was also highly respected by the British. Although he had something to live on in old age, he was awarded a special pension. It is not known whether Petar Želalić left offspring in Malta. It is only known that he died in Malta in 1811 at a very old age. He was buried next to the foundations of his endowment, the church of St. Nicholas.

https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petar_%C5%BDelali%C4%87
Serbia & Montenegro 2005 0.40 Euro, sg147, scott?
Attachments
sambek.jpg
2005 Petar-Zelalic.jpg

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