For the world of warships, harbours and armaments, the second half of the 19th century was an exciting chicken-and-egg time. Iron, and later steel, replaced wood; steam replaced sail, and old and new nations vied with each other for command of the seas with warships of increasing size and gun power.

The new Iron Ship Repairing Shop and the crane platform on Somerset Wharf c.1886. HMS Alexandra (black hull) and HMS Humber lie abreast of the wharf.The new Iron Ship Repairing Shop and the crane platform on Somerset Wharf c.1886. HMS Alexandra (black hull) and HMS Humber lie abreast of the wharf.

While the old wooden walls that had defined naval supremacy for centuries were dying out, marine architects experimented with designs, learning along the way, sometimes at tragic cost to human lives. Guns in turrets were installed in central batteries on steam-powered ships; they also carried sail, which made them unstable and interfered with the firing of the guns.

On September 6, 1870, HMS Captain capsised and sank off Cape Finisterre with the loss of all but 18 of her crew. It was not long after that the mastless battleship with heavy guns fore and aft of the superstructure appeared on the scene; in the Mediterranean it heralded a race between traditional rivals Britain and France and newcomer Italy.

In Malta and its primary asset, the Grand Harbour, the winds of change blew, as always, from abroad. The Admiralty transferred the mercantile community from French Creek to Marsa and, between 1865 and 1871, built Somerset Graving Dock (no. 3), the first of four that would eventually alter the topography of the entire creek.

In 1885, a huge factory building, called the Iron Ship Repairing Shop, was built between the dock and the eponymous wharf. Both dock and repair shop were political signals to France and Italy; what the island lacked in shipbuilding (only the sloop HMS Melita and two gun schooners Azov and Kertch were built locally for the Royal Navy) would be offset by extensive in-house repair facilities that did away with the need for warships of the Mediterranean Fleet to return home for refit and repair.

In 1846, William George Armstrong, a solicitor turned engineer, used water pressure to power a hydraulic dockside crane; it was a world first.

Four years later, on a flat site, Armstrong solved the problem of low water pressure by inventing an accumulator tower. The mechanism was ideal for lifting heavy loads; it consisted of a high cast-iron cylinder fitted with a plunger supporting a very heavy weight. When the plunger was slowly raised, it drew in the water until the downward force of the weight was sufficient to create pressure on the water below. The hydraulic principle was also applied for the firing of heavy-calibre guns.

Armstrong has been called ‘the Bill Gates of his time’. He created a huge industrial empire, building ships, manufacturing armaments and hydraulic equipment. The company merged with Charles Mitchell in 1867 and subsequently with Joseph Whitworth in 1897 and Vickers in 1927. These mergers added to the company’s portfolio aeroplanes, automobiles and aircraft.

The valve operator on the platform of the 160-ton Armstrong Mitchell hydraulic crane hoists out one of the 13.5-inch guns of HMS Trafalgar. Photo published in The Navy and Army Illustrated, June 12, 1986.The valve operator on the platform of the 160-ton Armstrong Mitchell hydraulic crane hoists out one of the 13.5-inch guns of HMS Trafalgar. Photo published in The Navy and Army Illustrated, June 12, 1986.

Both dock and repair shop were political signals to France and Italy; extensive in-house repair facilities did away with the need for warships of the Mediterranean Fleet to return home for refit and repair

Armstrong sold armaments and ships all over the world, indirectly helping Japan to beat the Russian Fleet at the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. Earlier, Armstrong guns had been used by both sides during the American Civil War.

However, it was his special relationship with Italy and Venice that changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean. The 100-ton gun at Fort Rinella is testimony to Armstrong’s initiation of one of the most expensive upheavals in naval architecture of the century when the company offered to sell to Italy massive guns for warships.

When the Italian Navy mounted his breech-loading 100-ton guns on its pre-Dreadnought battleships, the balance of power was so altered that guns of similar calibre, albeit muzzle loaders, were commissioned for Malta and Gibraltar, from, unsurprisingly, Armstrong.

The only surviving Armstrong Mitchell 160-ton hydraulic crane at the Arsenale di Venezia.The only surviving Armstrong Mitchell 160-ton hydraulic crane at the Arsenale di Venezia.

The Navy and Army Illustrated of June 12, 1896, featured the hoisting out of one of the 67-ton guns from the aft turret of the pre-Dreadnought HMS Trafalgar. The ship served with the Mediterranean Fleet between 1890 and 1897. Her main armament was four 13.5-inch guns mounted in two turrets, fore and aft.

For the uninitiated there was this explanation for such a laborious, dangerous, time-consuming and necessary procedure: The disembarkation of a battleship’s big guns is a procedure that takes place in all men-of-war at varying intervals for the purpose of replacing worn or damaged pieces by new.

After a limited number of rounds a gun loses its accuracy through the effect of corrosion caused by the powder gases, and requires re-lining or re-fitting with a fresh inner tube. A 67-ton gun, for instance, such as we see here being hoisted out of the after turret of the Trafalgar in the Malta Dockyard, has a ‘life’, as it is termed, of 120 rounds with full charges, or of 400 rounds with half-charges and of 200 rounds with three-quarter charges.

Site of the crane on Somerset Wharf, close to the eponymous dock (No.3) and the Iron Ship Repairing Shop.Site of the crane on Somerset Wharf, close to the eponymous dock (No.3) and the Iron Ship Repairing Shop.

After firing this number of rounds the gun goes back to the arsenal for inspection and, if necessary, for renewal. By regulation, in peacetime practice, only half-charges are used; an occasional three-quarter charge is used to test the proper working of the gun mounting; a full charge is reserved for employment in war.

After landing on the wharf the gun would be transported to the Iron Ship Repairing Shop. None of this would have been possible without the Armstrong Mitchell crane

After landing on the wharf the gun would be transported to the Iron Ship Repairing Shop. None of this would have been possible without the Armstrong Mitchell crane. Steel wire and winch drums were a few years away; wrought iron chains on cranes were liable to break if overloaded. Armstrong filled the need for heavy lift dockside cranes using his hydraulic cylinder invention.

Between 1876 and 1905, the firm manufactured 160-ton fixed hy­draulic cranes for La Spezia (1876), Bombay (1877), Liverpool (1881), Malta (1883), Taranto and Venice (1885), Pozzuoli (1887) and Japan (1892 and 1905). Most of them were destroyed during the last war. The La Spezia crane was demolished in 1969, that of Taranto in 1992. Only the Venice crane survives.

Acknowledgement
I would like to thank my son Robert for the photograph of the Venice crane.

(To be concluded)

• Michael Cassar co-authored several books with the late Joseph Bonnici until 2009. He continues to publish books with a social, maritime and transport theme. Past subjects have included the Malta Drydocks, the Malta buses, HMS Hibernia, Royal Navy tugs and Malta tugs (in collaboration with Tug Malta). His latest book The Gozo-Malta Connection celebrates the 130th anniversary since the start of the first regular mail service between the islands and the 35th anniversary of Gozo Channel Line. For further information e-mail info@bdlbooks.com or mikscas@gmail.com.

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