Ottoman Navy Couldn't Believe The Fleet Destroying Them Was Led By A Woman

This is the true story of Laskarina Bouboulina, the Greek widow who became an Admiral—and commanded a private navy of 8 warships against the Ottoman Empire during the Greek War of Independence.

From 1821-1825, she built the largest privately-owned warship in the Mediterranean—the Agamemnon, a 188-ton corvette mounting 48 cannons. She spent two fortunes from her dead husbands to fund the revolution. She personally commanded naval sieges at Nafplio and Monemvasia. She led boarding actions with cutlass and pistol at age 51. She was officially commissioned as Rear Admiral by the Greek Revolutionary Government.

But when she died in 1825—before seeing the Greek independence she bankrupted herself to create—historians erased her command role for 150 years. She became a "romantic patriot" who "supported the navy," not the tactical commander who broke Ottoman blockades and destroyed supply fleets.

In this video:

The Two Fortunes: How two dead husbands made her the richest widow in the Aegean

The Agamemnon: Building the largest private warship in the Mediterranean

The Blockades: Breaking Ottoman sieges at Nafplio, Monemvasia, and Pylos

The Boarding Action: Leading cutlass charges at age 51

The Admiral's Commission: Official rank in the Revolutionary Navy

The Navarino Raid: Her final battle against Egyptian forces (age 61)

The Erasure: 150 years of historians deleting her command role

The Rediscovery: How 1970s historians found the ship logs proving everything

Bouboulina's naval records were never hidden—they sat in Greek military archives for 150 years. Ship logs. Battle reports. Official correspondence. All showing her commanding fleet operations. Historians simply ignored them because a female admiral "didn't fit" national mythology.

In 1971, researcher Evangelina Dede published the primary documents. The evidence was undeniable: she commanded warships, made tactical decisions, and personally led combat operations. The Hellenic Navy now teaches her tactics at the Naval Academy.

If you enjoy stories about forgotten female admirals, private navies, Ottoman Empire battles, Greek independence, naval warfare, or systematic historical erasure, this documentary reveals a woman who built a fleet, commanded sieges, and disappeared from history until archival paperwork proved she was real.


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