Cottonera; A Boat Ride
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Our day began with an hour-long
talk on the maritime history of Malta, with special attention to three towns
across from Valletta, collectively known as Cottonera. This story of the building of fortresses by
the Knights, the attacks from the sea, the occupation by Napoleon’s forces, the
blockade by the British, the whole story is complex and quite remarkable. The lecturer was very good; he ended with the
British controlling the entire Mediterranean with naval centers at Gibraltar,
Malta and Cyprus. We then traveled to
Cottonera and walked through the beautiful streets:
Some of the buildings date
to the 13th century; this Norman house has original windows:
Again we saw many
beautiful door knockers. The dolphin is
a traditional motif:
We visited the Church of
St. Lawrence in Vittoriosa, one of the three towns which make up
Cottonera. There are two statues of the
Virgin Mary with a sword in her chest.
Here’s one:
On the base of the statue
are the words “IMNIKKTA SFAT MARIJA” which Google translate says means “Mary
was terminated mourners.” Something’s
lost in translation.
The Maritime Museum is in
Cottonera, and we visited. There are
many models of sailing ships and a few interesting exhibits. Here’s a display of a cannon mounted on rails—I’m
not sure if they were used to blunt the recoil, nor how recoil was handled when
multiple cannon were fired. More study
needed:
There’s a long story about
the HMS Hibernia; it’s prow is here:
We had an outdoor lunch at
a restaurant on the water in the glorious sunshine and 70 degree warmth, and
then went out for a ride on the Great Harbor in boats related to Venetian
gondolas:
We had great views of the
waterfront:
And lovely views of the
city:
While we were out, a
massive cargo ship came into the harbor:
We went back to the hotel
and had another lecture, this one on Malta during WW II. Again, the location of Malta made it a
strategic part of the early war, up until North Africa was won in late 1942. The story of the “Second Siege of Malta”
during the war is a remarkable one, and the military history is
fascinating. It was very well done.
Tomorrow we get to visit
the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, which should be one of the highlights of the whole
trip.
We just saw an episode of History Detectives on NPR, which was about two cannon (or apparent cannon) found in the sand in the Pacific Northwest, and the question was what ship did they possibly come from. A visualization showed precisely what you have here: the cannon mounted in a track, on which it could move to allow for recoil. The track could rotate somewhat to allow for targeting a particular ship. If there were multiple cannons, each had its own track--and its rectangular opening in the side of the ship. Or two cannons per opening. All very fascinating!
ReplyDelete--I love the views of the city you show from the water, and also the colorful winding streets.
--It's so easy for us to forget the importance of strategic ports and islands nowadays. We think in terms of nation-states (big countries), not tiny but crucial islands that got fought over, again and again. History coming to life!!!!
Aha! Was there any comment on what the recoil did to the ship? Did it rock the ship? That would throw off aim of other cannon. Did they all fire at the same time to avoid such problems? There was no information about how the firing was done.
DeleteCompared to the typical roll of a warship in the open ocean I suspect the effect of a single cannon's recoil was unimportant. Also naval tactics of the period emphasized the importance of firing the first broadside (in which all cannon bearing on the enemy fired at once) in order to maximize the initial damage, thus disrupting the foe's ability to return fire effectively. (I *think* that after the initial broadside individual cannon would fire when ready, rather than waiting for another synchronized broadside, but this may have depended on the range of engagement.)
DeleteNote that another reason for the rails was that these cannon *had* to be withdrawn some distance from the firing position in order reload.
Victor, I am luxuriating in your photos - to me, it's of a different world, almost majestic and regal, so it's difficult to imagine that these places were on "front" in so many military struggles.
ReplyDeleteBack to the cannon on rails. I understand that the cannon were pulled up tight against the front with no slack after being loaded. The recoil was taken entirely by the ship. Any slack would result in the possibility of the cannon tearing loose upon being fired.
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures of the buildings. I fear you have added yet another place to our ever growing bucket list.