| Attack on Acre (1179) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Crusades | |||||||
 Port of Acre | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Kingdom of Jerusalem |  Ayyubid Dynasty | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Unknown | Saladin | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Many ships sunk or captured | 3 killed | ||||||
The attack on Acre in 1179 was a naval raid launched by the Ayyubid fleet of Saladin against the Crusader fortress of Acre. The Ayyubids attacked the fort and inflicted heavy damage on the port before retreating.
By the spring of 1179, the Ayyubid sultan, Saladin, had constructed the Ayyubid navy. He had a total number of 80 ships, 60 were galleys and 20 were transport ships. Saladin divided his navy into two parts: 50 were to protect Egyptian coasts while 30 of them would attack the Crusaders. [1] [2] [3] The Ayyubid Navy began its operations in the same year. They attacked Levantine coasts, disrupting military and commercial activities there. In June, they captured cargo two ships capturing many loot, and 400 prisoners. [3]
Encouraged by this victory, the Ayyubids launched another raid, this time towards the Crusader fortress of Acre, which was considered by Muslims as the "Constantinople of Franks". On October 14, the Ayyubid navy sailed towards Acre at night. Acre port had many ships and merchandise. The Ayyubid navy managed to capture and destroy several ships. The Ayyubid navy remained at the port destroying for 2 days and retreated only after causing great damage to the port. The Ayyubids reportedly lost 3 men in this attack. The attack posed a challenge to Crusader's naval power. [1] [2] [4] [5] The Muslim historian, Abu Shama, said regarding the attack: "Our fleet, once destroyed, became in turn the destroyer of the enemy...Never was a similar victory achieved by a Muslim fleet". [1]
The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was a Crusader state that was established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1099 until the fall of Acre in 1291. Its history is divided into two periods with a brief interruption in its existence, beginning with its collapse after the siege of Jerusalem in 1187 and its restoration after the Third Crusade in 1192.
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, he spearheaded the Muslim military effort against the Crusader states in the Levant. At the height of his power, the Ayyubid realm spanned Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen, and Nubia.
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