Battle of the Dardanelles ( 1656 ) The Action of 26 June 1656 or Third Battle of the Dardanelles in the Sixth Ottoman - Venetian War took place on 26 and 27 June 1656 inside the Dardanelles Strait . The battle was a clear victory for Venice and the Knights Hospitaller over the Ottoman Empire , although their commander , Lorenzo Marcello , was killed on the first day . Background . Since 1645 , Venice and the Ottoman Empire had been at war over the possession of the island of Crete . Ottoman forces had captured most of the island in the early years of the war , but were unable to seize its capital , the heavily fortified city of Candia ( modern Heraklion ) . The Venetians , superior at sea , endeavoured to cut off the supplies and reinforcements to the Ottoman army , and attempted several times to blockade the Straits of the Dardanelles , through which the Ottoman fleet had to sail to reach the Aegean Sea from its base around Constantinople . Preface . Marcello reached the island of Imbros , outside the Dardanelles Strait , on 23 May 1656 with 13 sailing ships , 6 galleass es and 24 galleys as well as some more vessels under Pietro Bembo . On 11 June , 7 Maltese galleys under Gregorio Carafa arrived , making a total of 29 sailing ships , 7 galleasses and 31 galleys . On 23 June the Ottomans , under Kenan or Chinam Pasha , a Russian convert , appeared in the Strait with 28 sailing ships , 9 galleasses and 61 galleys . On 24 June Turkish land batteries on either side of the Straits tried to drive the Venetians off but failed . Battle . In the morning of 26 June the wind was from the north , and the Ottomans made good progress , the Venetian galleys being unable to assist their sailing ships . Then the wind backed , turning to the SE , trapping the Ottomans against the Asian side of the Strait just below the Narrows , and a mêlée ensued , the result of which was never in doubt . Kenan Pasha got back past the Narrows with 14 galleys but the rest were either captured , sunk or burnt . " Sultan " / " San Marco " was the most advanced Venetian ship and did the most to prevent the Ottoman retreat , but she ran aground under the Ottoman guns and was abandoned . During the course of the battle , the Venetian Captain General Marcello was killed by a direct cannon hit , but his death kept a secret from all but his second , the " provedditore " of the fleet Barbaro Badoer . Some small - scale fighting happened the next day , and at the end of it , the Ottoman fleet had lost 4 large sailing ships , 2 pinks , 5 galleasses and 13 galleys captured , and 22 sailing ships , 4 galleasses and 34 galleys sunk or burnt . Only 2 Ottoman sailing ships and 14 galleys escaped . Of the captured ships , Malta received 2 galleasses , 8 galleys and 1 " super galley " ( or galleass ? ) . The Venetians lost 3 sailing ships burnt and their casualties were 207 killed , 260 wounded and 94 missing . Maltese casualties were 40 killed and 100 or more wounded . Some 5 , 000 Christian slaves employed in the Ottoman fleet were freed . Aftermath . It was the heaviest naval defeat the Ottomans had suffered since the Battle of Lepanto , and enabled the Venetians to occupy the strategically important islands of Tenedos and Lemnos , thus establishing a tight blockade of the Straits . As a result , the resupply of Crete was effectively cut off , and Constantinople itself suffered a shortage of food during the winter . In a three - day battle in July 1657 , however , the blockade would be broken again .