Battle of Cape Passaro 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 . Background . 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 . Battle . The men - of - war of the Spanish fleet were made up of eighteen 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 . A shipwreck has been found ( 2012 ) just off Avola , near the south - eastern tip of Sicily . Cannon have been raised from the wreck identifying it as a British ship , probably one sunk in this battle . The location of the wreck helps to pinpoint the site of the battle . Aftermath . Four months later on 17 December 1718 , France , Britain and Austria declared war on Spain , starting the War of the Quadruple Alliance . The Netherlands joined them later , declaring war on Spain in August 1719 . Thwarted by Spanish interference , the besieging Austrian army captured Messina the next year , and destroyed the remaining Spanish ships in the harbour . These events combined to eventually force the Spanish king to accept the terms of the Quadruple Alliance in 1720 . Byng was rewarded handsomely for this victory by King George I of Great Britain , and given full power to negotiate with the various princes and states of Italy , on behalf of the British crown . On his return to England in 1721 , he was made Rear - Admiral of Great Britain , a member of the Privy Council , and ennobled as Baron Byng of Southill and 1st Viscount Torrington , in Devon . Of the ships captured in this battle , the " Principe de Asturias " had formerly been the British 80 - gun ship , captured by the French in 1707 and later sold to Spain ; after the Battle of Cape Passaro , she was sold to Austria . In 1731 the British offered to return the other captured ships laid up in Minorca , but they were found to be rotten and were broken up instead . Order of Battle . Britain ( Sir George Byng ) . Total was 1 of 90 guns , 2 of 80 guns , 9 of 70 guns , 7 of 60 guns , 2 of 50 guns , 1 of 44 guns . The British fleet also comprised 6 smaller vessels – the fireships " Garland " ( Samuel Atkins ) and " Griffin " ( Humphrey Orme ) , the storeship " Success " ( Francis Knighton ) , the hospital ship " Looe " ( Timothy Splaine ) , the bomb - ketch " Basilisk " ( John Hubbard ) and an unnamed bomb tender . Spain ( Vice - Admiral Don José Antonio de Gaztañeta ) . Total was one 74 - gun , 1 70 - gun , 8 60 - gun , 4 50gun , 3 40 - gun , 2 30 - gun , 3 26 - gun , 1 – 14 gun and 13 other ships .