The next morning, the fleets separated without further fighting and combined Dutch-Spanish fleet withdrew to Palermo to repair their battle damage, abandoning any attempt to attack Messina. A month later, on 28 May 1676, the French fleet attacked combined Dutch-Spanish fleet and a squadron of Spanish galleys, all at anchor in Palermo harbour in the naval Battle of Palermo and destroyed two Dutch warships by gunfire seven Spanish warships and two galleys and another Dutch ship by the use of fireships in the enclosed harbour. De Haan, who had assumed command of the Dutch fleet after de Ruyter's death, was killed by a cannonball during the battle. Despite this significant victory, the French withdrew from Messina in 1678 and the Spanish viceroy of Sicily regained control of the city.