Karamürsel Alp

Kara Mürsel Alp (or Mürsel Alp), was a Turkish sailor, admiral and Kaptan-ı Derya.

Kara Mürsel Alp, during the beylik period of the Ottomans which reached the sea for the first time in 1323, established the first regular Ottoman naval power with the ships it built in the shipyard it established (1327) in the Gulf of Izmit, around modern Karamürsel, which named after him.

Kara Mürsel put effort into creating the Ottoman fleet up until 1329. At the Battle of Eskihisar in June 1329 the fleet helped land forces and contributed greatly to the victory, leading to a new era of Turkish maritime history. This first class of light and fast galleys continued to be called and built as Karamürsel in the following centuries.

After the death of Akça Koca Alp, one of Osman I's comrades-in-arms, his troops were placed under the command of Mürsel Alp.

He earned the nickname Kara, which means "brave, daring", following his success in battles.

In the chronicles of Aşık Paşazade he was described as follows: "There was a valiant, brave soldier named Kara Mürsel. They gave Iznikmid to him and divided his province into timars. They brought the timar soldiers to his side so that they would not attack and harm the ships coming out of Istanbul."