Action of 3 October 1624
The action of 3 October 1624 was a naval engagement that took place near San Pietro Island, Sardinia, during the war against the Barbary corsairs. A squadron of galleys from the Spain (Kingdom of Naples), Grand Duchy of Tuscany and Papal States under Diego Pimentel engaged a squadron of six Algerian ships under Azan Calafate. The Algerians were defeated, their flagship was destroyed, and four ships were captured. Also, the Christian slaves they owned were freed. Events Background To deal with the constant threat of Barbary corsairs in the Mediterranean Sea, the Christian states in the area combined their galley squadrons to defend their coasts and carry out incursions into Barbary bases. Emanuel Filibert of Savoy, who in 1622 was appointed by Philip IV of Spain as Captain General of the Sea and Viceroy of Sicily, mobilized squadrons from Sicily, Naples, Malta, and occasionally from the Republic of Genoa and Tuscany in combined operations. In 1624, there were several engagements at sea between these combined squadrons and the Barbary corsairs, where the former made several captures of corsairs. Action On 8 September, Diego Pimentel, commander of the Naples galley squadron, set sail from Naples with his squadron to make an