When the Knights of St John arrived in Malta they established themselves on the Burgu peninsula, in the centre of the Grand Harbour. They immediately began construction of the fortress of St Angelo and threw walls across the peninsula. The neighboring peninsular of Senglea was also fortified and defended by Fort St Michael. Across the harbour, the long and rugged Scriberras peninsula neatly divided the Grand Harbour from the Marsamxett Harbour. To protect both harbours, the Knights started construction of a state-of-the-art star-fortress based on the latest European designs in 1552. The inner fortress would be protected by an outer ravelin wall and separated from the Scriberras peninsula by a moat, cut through the limestone rock. The angled walls were tens of metres thick and so angled that an attacking force would be caught in a crossfire of cannons, guns and arrows. Fort St Elmo would be completed in early 1565. It was just in time as the Knight's spies in the Ottoman empire had advised them that an enormous invasion fleet had set sail from Constantinople and would arrive in spring.
The Ottoman invasion force arrived in mid-May 1565. As shown in the above painting of the siege (now in the Grand Master's Palace), the Ottomans forced their way into the Marsamxett Harbour (left), but fire from St Elmo meant that the Ottoman fleet could not safely anchor there, making the neutralization of St Elmo their first priority. The Ottomans fully occupied the Scriberras peninsula and siege works encircled the Knights within their fortifications on Birgu (Fort St Angelo) and Senglia (Fort St Michael). By late May, Ottoman cannons had battered St Elmo into ruins but the defenders fought off all assaults, inflicting terrible losses on the attackers. Losses among the defenders were also high, but reinforcements were continually ferried across the harbour from Birgu during the night and the wounded evacuated. By early June, the defenders believed they could no longer hold the fortress ruins and asked permission to withdraw to Fort St Angelo. Grand Master Valletta however understood that the Knights were playing for time and the longer the Ottomans were held up by St Elmo, the more likely it was reinforcements from Europe would arrive. So, he refused their request and commanded them to hold St Elmo to the last man. The Knights and soldiers fought with desperate ferocity but the Ottomans eventually took the fort on 23 June 1565. 9 Knights were taken prisoner by North African corsairs, who whisked them away for later ransom, while a few Maltese managed to swim to St Angelo across the harbour. The rest of the former 1500 garrison died. The siege had cost the Ottomans more than 6000 troops, including a large number of elite janissaries, causing the Ottoman general, Mustapha Pasha to lament, "What a price we have paid for the son. How much more for the father?" referring to the much larger fortress of St Angelo across the harbour. As Valletta had hoped, relief forces landed on Malta in early September 1565 and began raids into the Ottoman rear. With winter approaching, the Ottomans decided to withdraw their forces and siege came to an end. Malta was saved.
In the aftermath of the Great Siege, Fort St Elmo was rebuilt as a much stronger, more modern star fort. The entire Scriberras peninsula, where the Ottomans had built their main siege camp, was transformed over subsequent decades into the vast fortress city of Valletta, named in honor of the victorious Grand Master. Forts were built on all the headlands around the Grand Harbour turning the island into an impregnable fortress. Fort St Elmo subsequently declined in importance over the centuries.
When the British took over Malta and it became the home port of the Mediterranean Fleet, the old fortifications were repaired and improved. The old cannon were replaced with cutting edge British artillery. New armored fire control fortifications were added as well as larger barracks and stores.
After the war the old fortress fell into ruin. In the 1980s the main part of the fortress was restored and was converted into the National War Museum. The museum covers Malta's history from the arrival of the Knights of St John to the end of the Second World War.
Across the harbour, Fort Rinella would be fitted with the world's largest muzzle-loading cannon, the Armstrong 100 ton gun. This monstrosity survives to this day although its ingenious and complex hydraulic operating systems are no longer functional.
A line of Armstrong muzzle loaders now stand as decorations in the forecourt of the fortress complex.
A sculpture representing the defenders of 1565 guard the gate of the fortress today.
A view from the outer bastion towards the inner fortress.
Display of the Knights' arms and armour from the Great Siege period
A display of Ottoman arms and a small selection of the tens of thousands stone cannonballs from the siege.
Sailors' art - a cushion embroidered with HMS Phoebe
WW1 era trench artillery
German helmets and some Nazi medals
A painting of the famous defenders of Malta - the Gloster Gladiators Faith, Hope and Charity.
At the beginning of the Second World War, while Britain was fighting for its survival in the Battle of Britain, Malta was left virtually undefended in the air. All modern fighters had been withdrawn and despite desperate calls from the British air and naval forces on the island, it was clear that no fighters would be spared for Malta's defense. In the prewar period, Malta had been the home port of several British carriers, such as HMS Eagle, HMS Glorious, and HMS Ark Royal. The older of these ships (Eagle and Glorious for example) had operated Gloster Sea Gladiators, but by 1940 most of these old biplanes had been replaced with Hawker Sea Hurricanes. Someone remembered that several crates of spare air-frames for the old Gladiators had been placed in storage and then forgotten after they had been retired from service. A search through the piles of crates uncovered three complete air-frames, which were quickly assembled and set to work.
Despite being obsolete, the Gladiators provided excellent service, downing Italian fighters and bombers and even spared successfully with German Messerschmitts. The canvas and wire biplanes were incredibly resilient as bullets passed straight through them - damage generally could be easily repaired, as long as nothing critical was hit! The three plucky fighters managed to hold off the Italians and Germans until Hurricane fighters could finally be spared in 1941.
Incredibly, one of the planes survived the war, although it was dismantled and many parts were lost. It is now has pride of place in the museum.
HMS Hood visits Malta during the interwar period.
HMS Illustrious battle-scarred ship's bell. The aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious, was attacked by German aircraft when escorting a relief convoy to Malta in January 1941. The ship was struck 6 times but managed to limp to safety with the loss of 126 men. Rocky Malta had no food security and depended entirely on imported staples.
British flight officer uniform
German Luftwaffe uniform
Airforce relics
BSA motorcycle
Royal Navy uniform
German PAK 37 captured from the Afrika Korps
Tropical uniform
Italian MTM explosive motorboat. The Italians specialized in small boat warfare, utilizing motorboats packed with explosives, human torpedoes and frogmen. On 26th July 1941, a flotilla of small boats attempted to breach the defences of the Grand Harbour. One motor launch was directed at the pier in front of the harbour which anchored the anti-submarine nets. The Italian pilot jumped clear once the boat was set on course and the explosives primed. Fire from the guns at Fort St Elmo damaged the boat which struck a bridge pylon. The guns fired on the other boats, sinking several or killing their pilots. thwarted in their attack, the Italians withdrew with heavy losses. This was the first and only time the naval guns of Fort St Elmo fired in anger and it resulted in a victory for the British.
German aero-engine
Junkers inverted V engine
German propeller from a downed aircraft
British Boefors anti-aircaft gun
Allied flags for V-E Day
The ubiquitous jeep
The barracks and storerooms area of the fortress remain largely in ruins. The location was used in one of the Daniel Craig 'James Bond' films. It would make a good hotel / hostel.
Looking back towards the Grand Harbour from the top floor of the 'modern' fortress.
The naval command position at the top of the complex
And the fortress still commands the entrance to the harbour to this day.
For information about opening times and tickets online, check here: https://heritagemalta.mt/explore/fort-st-elmo-national-war-museum/
Lascaris War Rooms: https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2026/01/lascaris-war-rooms-valletta-malta.html
Grand Master Palace Armoury: https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2026/01/grand-masters-palace-armoury-valetta.html
Maltese Independence Day: https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2026/01/malta-independence-day-display-21st.html
