Kemal Reis - Legacy

Legacy

Several warships of the Turkish Navy have been named after Kemal Reis.

Piri Reis wrote this poem for his uncle, from whom he learned so much, in the opening section of his famous Kitab-ı Bahriye (Book of Navigation):

Good friend, I want you

To remember us in your prayers,

And remember Kemal Reis, our master,

May his soul be content!

He had perfect knowledge of the seas

And knew the science of navigation.

He knew innumerable seas;

No one could stop him...

We sailed the Mediterranean together

And saw all its great cities.

We went to Frankish lands

And defeated the infidel.

One day an order from

Sultan Bayezid arrived.

"Tell Kemal Reis to come to me,"

It said, "and advise me on affairs of the sea."

So in 1495, the year of this command,

We returned to our country.

By the sultan's command we set out

And won many victories...

Kemal Reis sailed hoping to come back,

But was lost at sea.

Everyone once spoke of him;

Now even his name is forgotten...

The angel of death caught him

While he was serving Sultan Bayezid.

May God give peace to those

Who remember Kemal Reis with a prayer.

Kemal died and went to the next world

And we found ourselves alone in this.