Raid on La Goulette (1609)

Raid on La Goulette (1609)
	Part of Spanish–Ottoman wars
	; Tunis and La Goulette in the 17th century.
Date	30 July–August 4 1609
Location	Halq al-Wadi, Ottoman Tunisia
Result	Spanish–French victory
Belligerents
Spanish Empire; Kingdom of France	Eyalet of Tunis
Commanders and leaders
Luis Fajardo; Juan Fajardo; Philippe de Beaulieu-Persac	Uthman Dey; Jack Ward; Francis Verney; Richard Bishop
Strength
8 galleons; 2 carracks; 1 caravel; 1 frigate; Unknown number of pataches	22 armed ships; 1 galiot; 20,000 land soldiers
Casualties and losses
3 dead; 40 wounded	21 vessels destroyed; 2 vessels captured; Over 780 dead

The raid on La Goulette of 1609 was a naval attack by Spanish captain Luis Fajardo, at the head of a Spanish fleet and a French ship, on La Goulette, the main port of Ottoman Tunisia. The attack was done in response to previous acts of Barbary pirates based off Tunis and led to the destruction of the local fleet in port, which included English renegades like Jack Ward and Francis Verney.

The raid was probably the first early modern naval operation executed in the Mediterranean exclusively with sailing ships, like galleons and caravels, without the support of galleys, which were increasingly seen in Spain as an unnecessary expense to maintain in great numbers after the Battle of Lepanto.