Battle of Cape Passaro

Part of the War of the Quadruple Alliance

The Battle of Cape Passaro, 11 August 1718
by Richard Paton (oil on canvas, 1767)

Date	11 August 1718
Location	Cape Passaro, Sicily
Result	Decisive British victory

Belligerents

Great Britain

Kingdom of Spain

Commanders and leaders

Sir George Byng

Antonio de Gaztañeta

Fernando Chacón

Strength

22 ships of the line
7 others
1,444 guns
9,000 crew members.

15 ships of the line, 6 frigates
4 bomb ships, 2 fire ships, 7 galleys, merchantmen
1,320 guns
10,000 crew

Casualties and losses

500 killed or wounded

10 ships of the line captured,
4 ships of the line sunk or burnt,
4 frigates captured,
6 others captured, sunk or burnt
2,400 killed or wounded
3,600 captured

The Battle of Cape Passaro (or Passero) was the defeat of a Spanish fleet under Admirals Antonio de Gaztañeta and Fernando Chacón by a British fleet under Admiral George Byng, near Cape Passero, Sicily, on 11 August 1718, four months before the War of the Quadruple Alliance was formally declared.

Tensions between Spain and Britain were high. On 2 August 1718 the Quadruple Alliance consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Great Britain and the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, demanded that the Spanish withdraw their invading forces from Sicily and Sardinia. The British fleet had landed a small Austrian army near Messina, which began besieging that city which was controlled by the Spanish.

The men-of-war of the Spanish fleet were made up of eleven ships of the line of 50 guns or above, ten frigates, four bomb vessels, two fireships and seven galleys; the rest were merchantmen with stores and provisions.

The fleet was sailing in a scattered way and it sensed no danger when it caught sight of the British ships because it was unaware of the Quadruple Alliance's ultimatum. When the British fleet began to approach in an aggressive way, the Spanish fleet split into two – the smaller ships and merchantmen made for the coast, while the larger men-of-war engaged the British as they came up. HMS Canterbury, under George Walton was detached along with HMS Argyll, HMS Burford and four other ships to chase the first group and captured most of them. These captured Spanish warships were afterwards laid up in Minorca.

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Wikipedia