ABSTRACT
He was of noble Sicilian birth, whose father was also a Spanish grandee, so there was no difficulty about his joining the Spanish service. He went to sea in 1768, and by 1779 was a capitan de navio, commanding one of the bombarding ships at the great siege of Gibraltar. In 1789, he was promoted to commodore, and in 1790 was given the task of organizing the Spanish fleet for a confrontation with Britain over Nootka Sound (on Vancouver Island), but the matter was settled diplomatically. In 1793 he was a contraalmirante, second-in-command of the Spanish fleet, and assisted HOOD (3) at Toulon, being made Military Governor.
