Salah Reis

Salah Reis was Hayreddin Barbarossa's most brilliant operational commander, achieving fame across the Mediterranean for his boldness at the Battle of Preveza in 1538. Appointed Beylerbey of Algiers by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1552, he made the Regency of Algiers the preeminent naval power of North Africa.

In 1554, he marched overland into Morocco to restore the Wattasid sultan in Fez, and in 1555 captured the strategic fortress of Bougie (Béjaïa) from the Spanish Empire. While preparing an armada to retake Oran in 1556, he succumbed to the plague in Algiers.