Fight against the Spanish rear The Spanish fleet sailed from the
Faro Point in disorder. No defensive disposition was taken by Gaztañeta, except to leave behind two
frigates to follow the British fleet at a distance. As Byng stood in off Faro Point, both ships were detected. At the same time, a felucca from the
Calabrian coast informed the British admiral that the Spanish fleet had been seen from the hills laying in. Byng dispatched German troops they were carrying to
Reggio under escort of two of his ships while he headed to Faro point and sent scouts ahead. At noon they discovered the Spanish fleet, drawn into a
line of battle: 12 ships of the line, 18 frigates, seven
galleys, two
sloops and two fireships. Byng followed them during the rest of the day. A Spanish account of the battle said that, on the morning of 10 August, the Spanish ships saluted the British ones as they approached, not showing, therefore, any sign of belligerence. The night passed with fair weather; small winds and sometimes calm. The following morning the Spanish fleet was dispersed, with ships divided into three large groups separated from each other. Gaztañeta tried then to form a line of battle by towing his ships of the line with the galleys, but had no time. The Marquis of Mari, who commanded the Spanish rear, had under his command the ship of line
El Real, frigates
San Isidro,
Tigre and
Águila de Nantes, two bomb vessels, a fireship and a number of storeships, besides the seven galleys. Mari had lagged behind and was near the shore off
Avola. The British vessels were close to them, and Byng dispatched Captain
George Walton of with five more vessels to chase them. fired two shots near
El Real, while
Canterbury fired three more. Then, Mari's ship returned fire and the battle ensued with British at an advantage. The Marquis, having his ship badly mauled by the British gunfire, resolved to drive his squadron ashore, and later set fire to the ships to avoid capture. His own ship sustained fifty casualties, killed and wounded, and had her
rigging severely damaged. She was run aground and her crew escaped inland, but the ship was refloated by her British captors. Two of the Spanish frigates were completely burned; their crews also escaped.
Sorpresa, under Captain Miguel de Sada, was the only ship which offered battle, but were forced to surrender, having sustained heavy damage and casualties. The other Spanish vessels
struck their colours after a brief engagement, following which the British took possession of them.
Attack on the Spanish centre . With the Spanish rear now severed from the main fleet, Byng committed most of his vessels in pursuing Gaztañeta's squadron, which continued its way towards Cape Passaro. The Spanish admiral had with him six ships of the line and four frigates, but had not succeeded in forming a line of battle. and were the first two British ships of the line to engage Gaztañeta's centre. At 10 am, as they approached, the disorganised Spanish vessels opened fire. The two British ships returned fired, having been ordered by Byng not to fire until the Spaniards repeated their firing.
Oxford fell upon the 64-gun
Santa Rosa and took her after a murderous cannonade, supported by other British ships in the distance. The 60-gun
San Carlos struck her colours to Captain Thomas Matthews' , having made little resistance. Captain
Nicholas Haddock's
Grafton, meanwhile, confronted
Príncipe de Asturias together with
Breda and
Captain.
Príncipe de Asturias was left almost shattered by
Grafton and had most of her crew killed or injured, including Chacón, who was wounded in the face by splinters. The ship struck her colours to
Breda and
Captain while
Grafton moved to engage another Spanish ship of sixty guns on his starboard. At 1 pm, Gaztañeta's flagship, the 74-gun
San Felipe, was attacked by
Kent and soon after by
Superb, from which she received two broadsides. A running fight took place for two hours between
San Felipe, supported by three Spanish ships, and Byng's division of seven ships of the line and a fireship. Gaztañeta held off his pursuers until
Kent, bearing down under his stern, fired a broadside and fell to the leeward while
Superb fell simultaneously on his weather-quarter.
San Felipe, which could only return fire with her after guns, was left dismasted and had its hull severely mauled, but Gaztañeta was unwilling to surrender. Byng's came close to
San Felipe, and Byng demanded that Gaztañeta strike his colours or Byng would dispatch one of his fireships against
San Felipe. Gaztañeta refused and responded with a broadside. The British fired back and he received a shot which pierced his left leg and wounded his right heel.
Volante, commanded by Captain Antonio Escudero, attempted to relieve
San Felipe, staying close to her with the aim to attract some of the British fire upon herself. Pierced by the fire of three British ships, she struck to and at nightfall.
San Felipe, having 200 men out of action, amongst them
flag captain Pedro Dexpois, who had been hit by the shattered bones of a sailor cut in half by a cannonball, also surrendered. Of the remaining ships of Gaztañeta's squadron,
Juno meanwhile had been taken by after a three-hour fight.
Guevara's arrival and retreat In almost total darkness, Gaztañeta's
San Felipe struck her colours. De Guevara, with
San Luis and another ship of line, came in sight of the Spanish flagship, which had been alerted by the gunfire. Guevara's two ships bore down windward of them and exchanged a broadside with Byng's
Barfleur. Told that
San Felipe had surrendered, Guevara charged upon the wind and committed himself to collect the few Spanish ships still fighting on. The ship of the line
Perla de España under Captain Gabriel de Alderete, was relieved and allowed to escape from the three British ships. Together with the frigate
San Juan Menor, she left the battle, and headed towards Malta. Byng pursued them for some time, but given the fading light and low wind, he decided to stay with his fleet. Camocke, convinced of the defeat, set sail to the
Venetian island of
Corfu with his flagship
San Fernando and a frigate. Francisco Grimau's galleys, taking advantage of favourable winds, escaped to Palermo. The Spanish ships which managed to escape were, besides the seven galleys, five ships of the line and six frigates. The 64-gun
Santa Isabel, under Captain
Andrés Reggio, was pursued all through the night and surrendered the next morning to Rear Admiral
George Delaval. The British, in contrast, sustained trifling damage with no more than 500 killed or wounded all told. Of Byng's fleet, the ship which suffered the most damage was
Grafton; but she had engaged and disabled several Spanish vessels. The necessary repairs of the Royal Navy ships, mostly in the rigging, and those relating to prizes taken, were done over the following days. On 18 August Byng received a letter from Captain Walton:
End of the battle Walton had succeeded in capturing, by his own account, four warships, a bomb vessel and storeship in addition to burning four other warships. Having repaired his damaged ships, Byng entered the port of
Syracuse, then held by Savoyard troops under the Count of Maffei and blockaded by the Spanish army. From there, Byng sent nine Spanish prizes, five ships of the line and four frigates, to Port Mahon under heavy escort. One of the prizes,
San Felipe, was set on fire accidentally and blew up, killing most of the men onboard: 50 Spanish prisoners and 160 members of the British
prize crew. According to Spanish accounts, shortly after the battle, a captain of the British fleet made a complaint to the Marquis of Lede in the name of Byng, stating that the Spaniards had fired first. Gaztañeta and his officers were dispatched to
Augusta in a felucca, having taken an oath not to take up arms against the Habsburg armies for four months. Of the haul of Spanish prisoners taken – 2,600 who were wounded or sick, were also freed. Of the Spanish ships which escaped to Malta, where the Sicilian galleys under the Marquis of Rivaroles were still anchored. The Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, the Catalan Ramon Perellos y Roccaful, was a sympathiser of the
House of Habsburg and refused entry to the Spanish. ==Aftermath==