On 26 May Cyane arrived at Milazzo in north-west Sicily where she met up with Admiral Martin in , who was gathering a fleet. The whole force sailed from Milazzo. Canopus, , , Cyane, and , together with transports and the like, some 133 vessels in all, sailed on 11 June to the coast of Calabria. On 15 June, Alceste, two Sicilian frigates, and some 90 or so transports from Palermo joined them. The aim of the expedition was to attack the islands of Ischia and Procida.