Zonchio and the first cannon exchange at sea

The Battle of Zonchio off the western Greek coast is treated as a contested command failure rather than a simple verdict on Antonio Grimani. Many Venetian captains ignored his attack order, and Grimani stayed out of the action, raising the question of whether an admiral should charge alone when most of his ships refuse to follow. On the second day he told crews to kill captains who would not fight, yet only two galleys attacked even after French reinforcements arrived. A temporary Venetian success dissolved when crews concentrated on looting captured vessels and allowed the Ottomans to retake them. Elsewhere, Venetians boarded an Ottoman command ship, whose commander Burak Reis set it ablaze so that three vessels burned together. The fires damaged Venetian morale and contributed to the defeat. The account identifies Zonchio as the first naval battle in which both sides fired cannon at each other.