On 26 May Milazzo Admiral Martin in , was gathering a fleet at Milazzo. The whole force, including Canopus, , , , and Espoir, together with transports and the like, some 133 vessels in all, sailed from there on 11 June to the coast of Calabria. On 15 June, , 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.