Following construction, the consul C. Cornelius Scipio took 20 ships on to Messana while his consular colleague C. Duilius followed behind.
Scipio immediately received a proposal to be handed the Carthaginian naval station at Lipara, but the information was also leaked to the enemy. While ashore there, he was surprised by a Punic attack force and captured with all of his ships, earning him the sobriquet Asina (ass) for his stupidity.