Editing Suez (section)

==== Portuguese attacks ====
{{Main|Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts (1538–1560)}}
In trying to limit the [[Ottoman Navy]] to the Red Sea, after the [[Siege of Diu (1538)|siege of Diu]] in 1538, a Portuguese fleet was sent in 1541 to seek out and destroy the Ottoman navy. After capturing [[El Tor, Egypt|El Tor]] on the Egyptian coast, the fleet's commander [[Estêvão da Gama (16th century)|Estevão da Gama]] gave the order to attack Suez, but failed to engage the Ottoman fleet as the Ottomans had received intelligence about the incoming attack beforehand. Instead, the Portuguese fleet spent the next 7 months in the Red Sea sailing from port to port and waiting in [[Massawa]] before eventually leaving for India.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

German explorer [[Carsten Niebuhr]] noted that in the 18th century a 20-strong fleet sailed annually from Suez to [[Jeddah]], which served both as [[Mecca]]'s port and Egypt's gateway for trade with India. However, by the [[French invasion of Egypt and Syria]] in 1798, Suez had once again devolved into an unimportant town. Fighting between [[French Revolutionary Army|French]] and [[Military of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman troops]] in 1800 left most of the town in ruins.<ref name="Chisholm22" /> Its importance as a port increased after the Suez Canal opened in 1869.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item124188.html#:~:text=In%201869%2C%20the%20Suez%20Canal,to%20travel%20round%20southern%20Africa | title=Opening of the Suez Canal }}</ref>