Veduta aerea di Siracusa e con l'Etna sullo sfondo (Foto di Angelo Bonomo)

The Battle of Syracuse was a naval engagement of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

fought on 9 November 1710, outside the Sicilian port of

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. A

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

fleet of four ships under the command of

Jacques Cassard Jacques Cassard (30 September 1679 – 1740) was a French naval officer and privateer. Biography Born on 30 September 1679 to a family of merchants of Nantes, Cassard began a career as a sailor at age 14 on the merchantmen owned by his fa ...

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 A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

; he successfully captured ''Falcon'' and ''Pembroke'', the two ships left to maintain the blockade, and escorted the fleet to

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

References

* Norman, Charles Boswell
''The corsairs of France''
* Statham, Edward Phillips
''Privateers and privateering''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Syracuse, Battle of (1710) Naval battles of the War of the Spanish Succession Conflicts in 1710 Naval battles involving Great Britain Naval battles involving France History of Syracuse, Sicily