Malta Maritime Museum

1951 marine steam engine from dredger Anadrian   

The Malta Maritime Museum is in Birgu, on the opposite side of Dockyard Creek to our mooring. It is housed in the former Admiralty Naval Bakery which was built between 1842 and 1845 as the main bakery for the whole of the British Mediterranean Fleet. It has to be one of the grandest bakery buildings in the world! At its peak, the bakery produced 14000kg of bread and biscuits every day using steam-powered machinery.

On the ground floor, the era of steam ships is explained and the displays include all of the mechanical components of the steam system from the 1951 dredger Anadrian, which was commissioned by the Maltese government and which spent its life working around Malta.

There were also several lead crossbars from old anchors. I didn’t realise at the time but Nicky spotted that one of these is part of the largest known Roman anchor; the cross-piece alone weighs 4 tons but the rest of the anchor was made of wood and has long-since rotted away.

A Carrack: 3 or 4 masted ship developed in the 14-15^th centuries and used by the Order of St John’s Navy   

Upstairs the theme switched to the Order of St John’s Navy. The Order launched their naval activities as early as 1124, as part of a Christian fleet occupying Tyre in the Lebanon. After the fall of Acre in 1291, the Order was compelled to leave the area and moved to Cyprus. From there (1291-1304) they used their navy to hinder the enemy’s shipping and to protect Christian interests in the Mediterranean.

The Order captured Rhodes in 1307 and whilst there developed the administrative, military, and economic structures for the navy which were subsequently perfected in Malta. The Order’s galleys became a formidable force in the eastern Mediterranean until it was besieged at Rhodes in 1522.

In the first years following the Order’s move to Malta, various naval expeditions were staged to attack Muslim areas of North Africa: Tunis and La Goleta (1535), Mahdiya (1553), Djerba (1559) and Penon de Velez (1564). Not all of these enterprises were successful but they helped to build the Order’s reputation as a formidable naval force. Of course, the Order’s naval attacks on the enemy also injected much needed cash into the Order’s coffers. Their reputation was such that a sixteenth-century Spanish diary records that, impersonating the Order, Spanish soldiers shouted ‘Viva Malta’ to strike fear in the Turkish ranks.

(L) Huge mid 18^th century model of a 3^rd rate ship of the Order of St John. (Top R) Figurehead of HMS Hibernia. 19^th century naval gun    

The Order had a nautical school. Pride of place in the museum was a huge 18^th century model of a 3^rd rate ship that had been used at the school to teach students. Amongst many other models of ships, we also saw the wooden figurehead of the 110 gun HMS Hibernia dating from the Napolionic wars. There was also a 19^th century naval gun set up on its carriage as it would have been on warship.

La Macina   

Model of Dockyard and French Creeks   

As well as the models of ships, there were also models of buildings. Building a model was an important phase in designing new buildings and we saw a large model of the naval hospital and a wooden model showing Dockyard and French Creeks, which were used by the Admiralty to develop the Naval Dockyard there.

Of particular interest to us were the drawings and the model of La Macina which was the building right beside our mooring. The bastion building derives its name from ‘macchina’, a mechanism which was used for lifting and fitting ship’s masts. The machine was originally made of strong hardwood, but in 1864 the British changed it to a steel structure. In 1927, the machine was dismantled by the Admiralty in favour of a floating lift crane.

On a slightly more grim tone we saw a complete set of surgeon’s tools. Fast amputation of limbs without any anaesthetic, whilst seeming extreme, was actually a lifesaver on warships in the days before more advanced surgery and drugs. Looking at the neatly stored surgeon’s tools, we wondered how many limbs had been amputated with them.

Admiralty Naval Dockyard diving gear   

The theme of the museum changed to the last century. There was a large display of Admiralty diving gear used in the dockyard as well as hundreds of models of the RN ships which had used Malta and a nice display of photographs showing the Queen’s visits to Malta. As a princess, she had also lived here in her early married life when the Duke of Edinburgh’s ship was based here.

The Tanker SS Ohio   

The Tanker SS Ohio    

Another display showed an extremely detailed model of the tanker SS Ohio. During August 1942, the tanker played a fundamental role in Operation Pedestal, which was one of the fiercest and most heavily contested of the Malta convoys. Although Ohio reached Malta successfully, she was so badly damaged that she was only floating on her arrival, thanks to being supported by ships tied alongside her on either side. In order to offload her cargo she effectively had to be scuttled. She never sailed again but to this day she is fondly remembered in Malta and is considered to be the saviour of the beleaguered island at that critical time in the war. 

Our visit to the Maritime Museum filled the morning nicely. After a late lunch we pottered about on BV before visiting Barry and Catharine at their fabulous apartment for lovely dinner, with great views over the harbour at sunset.

Sunset view from Barry and Catherine’s apartment