This paper argues that patronage networks among seafarers who spent their early careers in North Africa had a profound impact on their later success in achieving prominent positions as leaders of Ottoman naval forces. These networks existed from the period when Piri Reis sailed as a client of his uncle Kemal Reis in the 1490s through the admiralship of Venedikli Hasan Pasha, died 1591. Seafarers who had the misfortune to lose powerful patrons before their success was secure, often faced insurmountable opposition which threatened their lives or careers. For example, Kemal Reis or later Hayreddin Pasha attracted other naval captains who joined in corsair attacks from their bases. Hayreddin submitted his base to the sultan in exchange for military support and was designated governor of Algiers. Rarely, governors from North Africa were made grand admiral, but when this happened they arrived in Istanbul with their own retinue of captains who then received salaries and official positions in Ottoman naval forces. These captains might then earn promotion to higher positions based on their own achievements. Individuals had the opportunity to advance if they were both talented and successful in creating personal bonds with a patron. This benefitted naval forces and clients, as well as increasing the power of patrons. In Ottoman naval forces, some client corsair captains achieved equally high ranking positions after the death of their patrons but this only occurred in exceptional circumstances such as after the disaster at Lepanto. Analyzing the highest echelon of Ottoman naval leadership in the sixteenth century using the concept of patronage to trace the careers of these men contributes to a greater understanding of how certain individuals came to the attention of sultans and viziers who were in a position to reward their accomplishments with the office of admiral. Talent was not sufficient; one had to find a powerful patron if one wanted to flourish in the world of the Ottoman navy. Ottoman and Venetian authors produced sources that describe patronage networks. They include Piri Reis’ maps and Kitab-ı Bahriye, the second part of the Gazavat-ı Hayreddin Paşa found in a unique manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Katib Çelebi’s Tuhfetül’l –Kibar fi esfari’l-bihar, Alberi’s Relazioni, and the Calendar of State Papers Venetian.