For much of the battle, only part of each fleet was engaged, and despite heavy casualties and severe damage, neither side lost any ships. It ended when the Dutch admiral, Michiel de Ruyter, extracted his squadron from being attacked by superior French numbers, although he was mortally wounded in doing so. The fleets separated next day without resuming the battle, and the result was inconclusive.
The war expanded into Germany, while in July 1674, the Sicilian town of Messinaexpelled its Spanish garrison and asked for French protection. A small French squadron arrived in September, but had to withdraw in the face of a larger Spanish fleet. In January 1675, a reinforced French force of 20 ships escorted an supply convoy through the Spanish blockade, then defeated the Spanish fleet in a battle off the Aeolian Islands on 11 February 1675, ending the blockade of Messina.
The Spanish then asked for Dutch assistance. Michiel de Ruyter was sent to the Mediterranean with eighteen larger warships and a number of smaller vessels although, because Dutch resources had been strained by the continuing Franco-Dutch War, these ships were not fully manned. On 8 January 1676, de Ruyter fought a French fleet of roughly equal numbers but greater firepower in the inconclusive Battle of Stromboli, in which the Dutch lost one ship. Later in 1676, de Ruyter was joined by a Spanish squadron under Admiral de la Cerda, who assumed command of the combined force. The two agreed to attack Augusta and force the French fleet to leave Messina.
The attack on Augusta had the desired effect of drawing the French fleet out to sea and, on 22 April 1676, the two fleets met in the Bay of Catania north of Augusta. De la Cerda rejected de Ruyter's suggestion of mingling Dutch and Spanish ships, and the Spanish formed the combined fleet's centre squadron, with Dutch squadrons in the van, led by de Ruyter, and rear, under Jan de Haan. Both available sources agree that there were 29 French ships of the line and 13 Dutch warships, not all fit to fight in line. Jenkins mentions ten Spanish warships, Blackmore 14, besides several Dutch and Spanish frigates, and also five French frigates and eight fireships, and he also suggests that the French fleet was superior in firepower to its opponents.
Both fleets sailed in line ahead and were organised into three divisions. The battle was largely an intense fight between the two van squadrons, as de la Cerda kept the centre at long range from its French counterpart, possibly because his ships were short of gunpowder. Some ships in the rear of de Haan's squadron had engaged the tail of Gabret's squadron, but otherwise this squadron kept in line with the Spanish centre for most of the battle. The conduct of the Spanish centre enabled the leading ships of Duquesne's centre to join in the attack on de Ruyter's van squadron and engage his outnumbered ships on both sides.
In the fierce fighting between the two van divisions, the French ship Lys was forced out of line and the commander of the French van, Lieutenant-Général Alméras was killed. Towards the end of the day, de Ruyter in Eendracht attacked Duquesne in Saint-Esprit with the intention of boarding. but Tourville in Sceptre, aided by Saint Michel went to their admiral's aid.
Lack of Spanish support allowed the French to envelop de Ruyter's squadron. As a result, the Dutch van suffered more severely than their opponents, with three ships so badly damaged they had to be towed to port by Spanish galleys. Disaster was averted when de Haan moved to support de Ruyter, allowing him to extricate his ships. De la Cerda finally intervened by shielding the Dutch while they retreated from the battle, but de Ruyter was hit in the leg by a cannonball, and died a week later at Syracuse, Sicily.
Aftermath
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, was killed during the battle. Despite this significant victory, the French withdrew from Messina in 1678, and the Spanish regained control of the city.
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