Battle of the Aegates 241 BCE
The Battle for the Aegates is also known as the Battle of the Egadi Islands and took place on March 10, 241 BCE. By the time the battle took place the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage had been going on for several years. The years preceding the Battle of Aegates were relatively quiet, partially because Rome did not have a fleet of her own. Her fleet had been mostly destroyed in the Battle of Drepana and the following storm.
Carthage did little to take advantage of the fact that Rome was defenseless at sea. So in 242 BCE, Rome decided to rebuild their fleet and regain the superiority of the seas. Rome was largely broke due to 20 years of war and therefore it fell upon the wealthy nobles of Rome to finance the new fleet one ship at a time. In the end, the nobles built, equipped and crewed 200 ships without any monetary assistance from the government. Carthage knew the Romans were building a fleet and decided to build one of their own with 250 ships, though theirs were likely undermanned.
The new Roman fleet, completed in 242 BCE laid siege to two Sicilian ports and waited for the Carthaginian response. It came in 241 BCE when the Carthaginians set sail for the besieged cities. The Roman fleet decided to sail out to meet the Carthaginians. They stripped their boats of everything but the bare necessities which made them faster and more maneuverable.
The Roman ships were able to quickly meet the Carthaginians and gain the upper hand. They were much more mobile than the loaded down Carthaginian ships which were crewed with inexperienced men. The Romans were able to ram the Carthaginian ships and soundly defeat the larger Carthaginian fleet. The Romans lost 30 ships and had 50 damaged. The Carthaginians lost 50 ships and had 70 captured along with 10,000 of their men.