1513

The Knights Hospitaller pivot their newly knighted and well-known pirate Andrew Barton closer to the Eastern Mediterranean targeting Muslim shipping. Operating out of both Tripoli and Spanish ports, the small but effective navy makes a healthy profit taking a few boats laden with gold and salt from Sub-Saharan Africa. However, the lack of size and strength of the fleet limits its ability to affect the trade activity of the region. They also are heavily limited in the amount of slaves that can be transported with successful attacks, something the Knights have an ever present need of with their major projects in Tripoli.

Similarly, the Barbarossa's have not stopped their reign of terror on the seas with Hizir's ascension in Tunis. A fleet larger than that fielded by Barton sneaks past the Rock of Gibraltar and onto the Atlantic Coast of Morocco, recently secured against the Portuguese. They target Iberian shipping as they can, struggling to reach far beyond the coastline but still having success as none of their targets were prepared or expecting piracy in this part of the ocean. Nevertheless, the fleet here was also of small size and the majority of Iberian Atlantic shipping is unaffected by the growing piracy here.