War of the Quadruple Alliance
1718–1720
Philip V of Spain and his minister Cardinal Alberoni set out to win back the Italian lands Spain had lost at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. A Spanish army took Sardinia in 1717 and landed in Sicily in 1718. Britain, France, Austria and the Dutch Republic joined in the Quadruple Alliance to stop it, and a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Byng sailed into the Mediterranean, met the Spanish fleet off Cape Passaro at the southern tip of Sicily, and destroyed it before war had even been declared. With its army cut off in Sicily, Spain gave in, and Alberoni was dismissed.
How the fleets moved
Click a route to see which ships made it, or a battle for its summary. Routes are approximate.
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British movement
Battle (size: ships engaged)
Routes are approximate.
Battles
In date order.
11 August 1718
Battle of Cape PassaroOff Cape Passaro, Sicily
Decisive British victory; most of the Spanish fleet taken or destroyed
28
vs
41 (16 lost)
Fleets
Each navy's ships in the war, from its biggest down.