This is the story of the Armstrong Mitchell 160-ton fixed hydraulic crane built for the Malta Dockyard. The crane was works no. 2983, built in 1883. The crane is first shown in images of the launching of HMS Melita on March 20, 1888.

During the intervening years, the esoteric world of the Dockyard is of little help. Until the construction of the docks at Għajn Dwieli, which were extremely well documented, images of Dockyard expansion during the 19th century are scarce and generally cover inaugurations; hardly any photographs were taken of the works themselves.

A photographic record of the installation of the Armstrong Mitchell crane is scarce and probably inexistent (none likely exist of its demolition in 1965-66). However, the actual works have been excellently documented by the contracting engineers, Charles Colson and Charles Henry Colson, in paper no. 2631, ‘The 160-Ton Hydraulic Crane at Malta Dockyard Extension Works’, Section II – Other Selected Papers, Minutes of the Proceedings, Part 4, Volume 114, Issue 1893, January 1893, pp, 284-288, Institute of Civil Engineers.

The paper describes the workings of the crane itself and the rebuilding of a section of Somerset Wharf to take the weight of the new structure. Crane and wharf would have been of little use to the navy before the Iron Ship Repairing Shop was completed in 1866. Whether this date refers to the building and/or its machinery (which had to be procured from England) is not known.

However, a photo of French Creek from the Upper Barrakka Gardens shows the newly completed factory (freshly quarried white stone standing out) and, probably, the platform of the new crane. This image may be dated with some accuracy because the Colsons refer to problems caused to the works during engine trials of HMS Alexandra (black hulled vessel next to the smaller white hulled HMS Humber) which was undergoing refit just off the wharf.

The flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet emerged with a white hull in 1866 after the refit. It is therefore likely that 1883 is the date of manufacture of the crane but the actual erection following shipment to Malta in a knocked down state had to wait for the revamped quay and completion of the new factory.

For the Colsons, father and son, civil engineers with the Admiralty, the major job in hand, apart from the hydraulic crane, was the building of a second dry dock in French Creek on a site north of Somerset Dock. As originally planned, neither dock was to disturb the fortifications; indeed, intervention at Somerset was limited, the dock being built on War Department land and extending into the sea with the use of caissons or temporary dams during construction.

The maximum working load of 160 tons could be lifted 50 feet at a radius of 70 feet. The wrought iron counter balance box was loaded with 480 tons of old iron and stone, enough to balance 320 tons, twice the working load. The total cost of the crane and foundations was £23,221

Further to the north, Senglea and Corradino Bastions intruded on the second projected dock. The Admiralty must have accepted the dictum of Lt Col Andrew Clarke, the director of works at the Admiralty, that the fortifications were obsolete and therefore redundant.

The second dock necessitated a lot of rock cutting. At Somerset, traditional Maltese methods of quarrying were largely used; for No. 2 Dock (Hamilton) the Colsons brought a Lobnitz rock cutter from England to speed up the works. Charles Colson (1839-1915) joined the Admiralty Department of Civil Engineering in 1866. His son Charles Henry Colson (1864-1939) followed in his father’s footsteps in 1883.

The crane survived war damage that partly destroyed the Iron Ship Repairing Shop. At right is the Melita Slip where the famous one-off sloop was launched in 1888.

The lesser job at the Dockyard extension works was the erection of the 160-ton hydraulic crane; it was a work in reverse, in that it had to be erected on an extant wharf that had been completed just over a decade earlier.

Wharf walls are extremely strong, but the intervening space, above which the deck is laid, is generally filled with loose quarry refuse and mud. Clearly this could not take the weight of the huge crane with its tons of wrought iron, ballast and the weight of the guns being hoisted out of the ships. New foundations had to be laid.

The section of the quay on which the crane would rest was sectioned off with a temporary timber (fir) caisson, 26 feet deep, laid on a sloping bottom, and the quay was dug out until the rock bottom was reached. The foundations, 56 by 53 feet, were made from a solid mass of Portland cement concrete, consisting of six parts of hard limestone, three of sand and one of cement.

The process of filling this huge hole must have taken months; Portland cement was imported in barrels, and concrete was mixed by hand on site.

The Colsons describe problems and solutions; a leaking caisson from an underwater trench and engine trials by HMS Alexandra, moored abreast of the works, whose turning screws churned the mud and exposed the fissure. Pumps kept the interior of the caisson reasonably dry while the fissure was filled. After the foundations were completed up to the coping, the new wharf wall was lined with hardstone.

The 35-ton hoist working on HM submarine XI, c.1926-28. The unique cruiser submarine carried four 5.2-inch guns. In the background is construction work on Senglea Primary School on St Michael’s Bastion.

Above the level of the deck was the column, 50 feet in diameter and 20 feet high to the top, where the roller path was laid. Outside the form work, the column was lined with local limestone slabs, but the curb carrying the roller path was made of Cornish granite dowelled at the top with metal cramps.

In the central pivot, also made of granite, and reaching down to deck level, was the chamber for the hydraulic pipes. The pipes were connected, via a covered trench on the wharf to the boiler and engine house at the rear of the Iron Ship Repairing Shop.

The Colsons describe the crane in detail; the maximum working load of 160 tons could be lifted 50 feet at a radius of 70 feet by means of a direct acting cylinder suspended in gymbals from the jib. Lesser loads up to 35 tons could be lifted 90 feet at a radius of 75 feet, via an additional chain purchase provided outside the main lifting cylinder.

This was the main ram for lifting and lowering with a high capacity, smooth and controllable operation for delicately placing heavy loads like gun barrels, boilers and engines; no chains to suddenly jump or break, no gears to break. There was a smallish chain attached to the ram to draw it back towards the jib, bringing the access platform with it, on which stood the operator who controlled the inlet and outlet valves.

The crane revolved on 96 linked rollers. The wrought iron counter balance box was loaded with 480 tons of old iron and stone, enough to balance 320 tons, twice the working load. Timber scaffolding was used for the erection of the crane, whose parts were riveted together. The total cost of the crane and foundations was £23,221. The crane itself, including the ironwork, machinery, chains, pumps and delivery, but excluding erection, cost £14,550.

Unlike modern travelling cranes, ships had to be moored exactly beneath the jib. In 1965 the axe fell on the Victorian artefact; the jib was dismantled, the counter ballast box emptied

The crane continued to be used long after the big gun ship had passed into history. It lifted tugs, torpedo boats and barges; a photograph taken in 1945 shows a motor fishing vessel being hoisted for maintenance on a cradle on the wharf.

For most of the time it was painted in red oxide; the men knew it as the ‘Red crane’. The dockyard was partly privatised in 1959, the lease being granted to Bailey (Malta) Ltd, a Welsh ship repairing firm. In 1963, Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson were appointed managers.

The crane was a hindrance and a throwback from another time. Unlike modern travelling cranes, ships had to be moored exactly beneath the jib. In 1965 the axe fell on the Victorian artefact; the jib was dismantled, the counter ballast box emptied.

An August 1966 photograph shows the huge concrete column. The Portland cement must have taken months to whittle down. That was 50 years ago; the crane passed into industrial oblivion without as much as a record.

Works drawing of the crane, platform and temporary caisson.

When in Venice, try to visit the Arsenal di Venezia during the Biennale or on Italian Navy Arsenale Open Days. Even if this is not possible the crane is as much a landmark was it was in French Creek. The ballast box needs attention; if it breaks the crane will topple into the water; since the crane does not function, enough of the ballast can be removed to balance the structure. In 2013 the straps holding the ballast box were reinforced.

It might sound incongruous that La Serenissima, with its millennial heritage, should worry too much about a Victorian crane, which Lord Foster describes as “a priceless part of the industrial heritage of Venice”. Nevertheless the crane, an ‘iconic structure’ is part of the history of the arsenal, which dates from the 12th century and was once the hidden part of the city where its ships were built.

Restoration of the unique crane is the first industrial heritage project undertaken by the British Venice in Peril Fund in association with the Superintendency of the Cultural Heritage of Venice and the University Institute of Architecture of Venice, Padua University and Turin Polytechnic.

Lord Foster has said “it would be an unforgivable act of negligence” to leave the crane to deteriorate further as it is “not only aesthetically inseparable from its historic context, but it is a priceless part of the industrial heritage of Venice”.

It is understandable that the Malta crane had no future at Malta Drydocks with its different business model. This article is a flight of fancy of what could have been and a cautionary tale against further destruction of what little industrial heritage is left.

(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.