Fought along the coastline of Southern Italy, most notably off of the town of Nicotera, the battle resulted in an Aragonese-Sicilian victory.

The Angevin army made a successful crossing of the strait in early July and began a protracted siege of Messina.

Supporting the siege was a large Angevin fleet made up of ships levied from Charles' lands in Southern France, Italy, and Greece.

Charles' naval commander, Genoese admiral Arrighino de' Mari, was cautious about facing the Aragonese navy in combat with his motely collection of galleys, transports, and converted merchant ships, and so advised Charles to have the Angevin fleet put in to the port town of Reggio for refit.

[1] Despite the bloodless victory, the Angevin attempt to force the strait, and the disorganized Aragonese response, worried Peter of Aragon.

[1] On 14 October, weather conditions resulted in a dark and stormy morning; seeing this as an opportunity, a force of 48 Angevin ships sailed from Reggio and attempted a second running of the strait.

The poor weather initially prevented the Aragonese from noticing this movement; when they did, the Aragonese-Sicilian fleet sailed in pursuit.

[1][2] Having advanced up the coast under the cover of the storm, the Angevin fleet initially had a lead over the pursuing Aragonese and Sicilian galleys.

Seeing the center break, the Genoese and Provençal contingents of the Angevin fleet turned and fled, while the Neapolitan ships beached themselves at Nicotera.

The remaining Angevin ships lost all cohesion and either fled, were captured, or were forced to fight in small groups against the better organized Aragonese.

In a similar vein, Peter of Aragon also initiated reforms to remove ineffective captains, a policy that led to the sidelining of his son, Prince James.