Battle of Syracuse (1710)

Battle of Syracuse
Part of the War of the Spanish Succession
Aerial view of Syracuse and its port today.
Date 9 November 1710 Location Off the coast of Syracuse, Sicily Result French victory
Belligerents
France	Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Jacques Cassard	Edward Rumsey
Strength
5 ships of the line	2 ships of the line
Casualties and losses
	2 ships of the line captured

Battle of Syracuse (1710)

The Battle of Syracuse was a naval engagement of the War of the Spanish Succession fought on 9 November 1710, outside the Sicilian port of Syracuse. A French fleet of four ships under the command of Jacques Cassard came to relieve a heavily laden French merchant fleet that had been blockaded in the Syracuse harbour by a British fleet. Cassard arrived off Syracuse when most of the blockading fleet had left to resupply at Port Mahon; he successfully captured Falcon and Pembroke, the two ships left to maintain the blockade, and escorted the fleet to Marseille.

References

• Norman, Charles Boswell. The corsairs of France
• Statham, Edward Phillips. Privateers and privateering