The voyage of the Nostra Signora del Carmine e Sant’Antonio

A shipment of unspecified merchandise loaded in Messina and intended for Naples. The vessel set sail from Messina on the morning of 6 September 1719 under calm weather conditions. Navigating along the coast toward Naples, the vessel was about three miles offshore near the Baia degli Infreschi when it was intercepted by a corsair galley of approximately eighty men. The galley, flying an imperial flag and painted prominently in red at the stern, was commanded by a certain captain Niccolò Mascio, reportedly from Malta. The corsairs boarded the vessel, forced the crew below deck, and systematically plundered the belongings of the patron and crew. The crew, left nearly barefoot and in underclothes, attempted to sail on to Naples to report the incident, but upon learning that they might be detained and forced into naval service, they diverted instead to the port of Anzio. There, between 12 and 23 September, they anchored and formally recorded the events in a sworn testimony.