THE DRYDOCKS
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THE DRYDOCKS
Malta’s natural harbours and its position bang in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea have always made it an ideal base for naval superpowers.
In 1800, Malta became a British Protectorate. The British immediately took over the old shipyard (arsenal), docks, and buildings in the Grand Harbour that used to belong to the Order of St John. These buildings were turned into storehouses, a place to make ropes, a small steam factory, and homes for the yard officers.
The old arsenal was also torn down to make way for a Victualling Yard (an area dedicated to the storage, preparation and packaging of food and drink for the fleet). From 1842 to 1845, a clever architect and military engineer named William Scamp built a steam-powered bakery where slipways once launched the Order’s galleys. This bakery made lots of bread and biscuits for the British Navy.
Birgu Waterfront
With the loss of the island of Menorca, Malta quickly became Britain’s main naval base in the Mediterranean. William Scamp also began building the first dry dock (provided for a Royal Drydock) outside of Britain. A cofferdam (a waterproof space which has been pumped dry of seawater to allow the construction and repair of a ship) was dug out of the rock at the mouth of the creek in Cospicua, and in 1847, the new drydock welcomed HMS Antelope, the first Royal Navy ship to be refitted there. A few years later, Dockyard 1 was made bigger to form a double dock. As more and more ships came to Malta, especially after the Suez Canal opened, another five drydocks (three single plus one double dock) were built in French Creek between 1861 and 1909.
HMS Melita
A grand gate called Porta Haynduili (Ghajn Dwieli), built by an architect named Blondel des Croisettes (1628-1698), was taken down. Instead, a dark tunnel under St Paul’s Bastion became the new entrance to the three cities near the Grand Harbour.
While most of Malta was busy with farming, the new dry docks and naval forces created many jobs for the people of Cottonera. More and more people started working in the harbours. Between 1871 and 1881, the number of workers in Malta grew from 40,699 to 46,116. Most of these new jobs were for porters, carriers, and coalheavers, whilst the number of commercial workers grew by 27 per cent.
But there was a problem. When the British Mediterranean Fleet was away, many dockyard workers had no jobs. To fix this, the Admiralty decided to build a new warship called HMS Melita in Dock No. 3. This ship, which had a steam engine and three masts for sails, gave work to those out of a job. HMS Melita was launched in 1888 and was named after Princess Victoria Melita, a British royal family member who was born in Malta at the San Anton Palace.
One big British idea that changed local boatbuilding was the use of moulds for each part of the boat’s frame. They made these moulds on a lofting board from the shape of a model of half the boat’s hull (bottom). As a result, new types of boats were created to meet local needs, and some were even bought by British people living in Malta and other places.
Malta was an important base for supplies during the First World War and the Second World War.
During the years 1914-1918, when Europe was at war, 30,000 Maltese people worked at the Dockyard, helped the British army and navy, or worked for British services in Malta. After the war ended with the peace treaty of Versailles, 10,000 men lost their jobs right away. Thousands more had to leave the Dockyard, and about 20,000 people became unemployed. This led to the revolt known as the Sette Giugno (7 June), and sadly, a young person from Vittoriosa was killed, along with three others.
For many people, moving to another country seemed like the only solution, especially for those without skills or education. Right after Versailles, 10,000 people left for Canada, and 40,000 from both Malta and Gozo applied for passports to go to places like England, Australia, and North and South America.
By 1921, about a quarter of the people in Malta lived in the towns around the harbour, such as Valletta, the Three Cities, and Floriana. Many were looking for jobs with the colonial government. Another third lived in the nearby suburbs, while the rest were spread out in the countryside, where farming was common.
When the Second World War began, the shipyard asked for volunteers to form the Dockyard Defence Battery, and over 5,000 men from different trades signed up. The Dockyard Defence Battery was set up in September 1939, with its headquarters at the Anti-Gas School in Corradino. The workers from the Admiralty Dockyard took turns between working their regular jobs and manning the defence guns.
On January 10, 1941, the HMS Illustrious, a British aircraft carrier, just made it into the Grand Harbour, badly damaged. The dockyard workers immediately started repairing the ship. That month, sixty German dive bombers tried to destroy it, but thanks to the brave anti-aircraft gunners of the Dockyard Defence Battery and some dedicated British fighter planes, the ship was hit only once.
The bombing of Malta was at its worst in 1942, with the drydocks being frequent targets. In April 1942, the Admiral Superintendent of Malta Dockyard reported that due to German air attacks, all the drydocks were damaged except those that had been moved underground, and electric power, lights, and telephones were mostly out of order.
Back in the day, the dockyard was run by a big shot called the Resident Commissioner of the Navy Board until 1832. After that, they switched things up and put Admiral Superintendents in charge of all the dockyards. However, here’s the thing – the Maltese folks were kept out of the top jobs, which made a lot of them pretty upset. Most often Maltese workers were also paid less than British workers for the same jobs.
See, the dockyard mostly fixed up warships, which meant when there was a war, the Maltese workers did well. But when there was peace, they didn’t do so great. This strange situation made most of the workers band together and form a strong trade union. They wanted to protect their jobs, make their work and living conditions better, and fight for what they thought was fair.
The General Workers Union started near the end of 1942 among the workers at the British Admiralty Dockyard. There was this guy named Reggie Miller, who worked as a clerk in the Drydocks. He convinced a small group of workers to create a powerful union that would go down in history.
Then, on a morning in March 1959, the dockyard was handed over to a company from South Wales called Messrs C.H. Bailey, who were experts in fixing ships. The plan was for the dockyard to still work on Navy ships but also take on more commercial jobs. But with this change came more pressure to fix ships quickly and cheaply. Working long hours became the norm, because every hour a ship spent at the drydocks meant less money for its owner.
The dockyards weren’t just places where ships were fixed—they were places where young boys could build their futures. Skills were passed down from generation to generation. Boys were taught by journeymen who showed them the ropes, quite literally sometimes! They learnt the trade by making their own tools, and along the way, they made lifelong friends.
But it wasn’t all work and no play. They had social activities, got a little spending money, and if they were up for it, they could even study for a technical certification in theory studies from the City & Guilds of London Institute. As the times changed and new technologies came in, like going from banging rivets to welding steel plates or from drawing full-scale drawings at the mould loft to computer-aided drawing, these workers had to be quick learners. Luckily, the dockyard had their back with training programs to keep everyone up to date. There were so many different jobs at the dockyard! Some folks were founders, who made things from metal. Others were blacksmiths working with hot metal to shape it. Then there were joiners and woodworkers, who crafted things out of wood, and welder-burners who joined metal together with heat.
But the list doesn’t stop there! There were blasters who cleaned and smoothed surfaces, mechanical and electrical fitters who fixed machines and wires, and engine fitters who kept the engines running smoothly. And let’s not forget the pipeworkers who handled pipes, shipwrights who built and repaired ships, and boilermakers who made boilers. There were also pattern makers who crafted templates for parts, draughtsmen who drew up plans, and steel workers who handled metal sheets. And, of course, there were storekeepers who kept track of all the tools and materials and mechanics who fixed up vehicles in the transport section.
But wait, there’s more! There were foremen who supervised the work, estimators who figured out costs, planners who organized tasks, and yard engineers who oversaw repairs. And to keep everything running smoothly, there were production managers who kept an eye on progress and electrical plant managers who looked after the power supply. Phew, that’s quite a lineup! These workers had to be super clever and come up with all sorts of creative solutions for tricky problems. One place where they tested out their ideas was the Dockyard Electrical Shop Test Bay – a real hub of innovation!
Michael Parnis, a shipwright and trade unionist, remembered how, in just nine months, apprentices learned so much that they could practically fix anything at home – from leaky pipes to flickering lights. It was a place where hard work, creativity, and a bit of elbow grease could turn a young boy into a master of all trades.
The work there wasn’t for the faint-hearted – it was tough, loud, dirty and sometimes downright scary. Whether you were surrounded by the damp chilly sea air or sweating it out in the foundry where the flames were as hot as hell, there was no escaping the intensity of the job. Imagine being a shipwright tasked with shaping and building massive vessels. That meant a lot of cutting and welding with sparks flying and metal sizzling. And if that wasn’t enough, you had to be on your toes all the time, especially when handling heavy machinery that could easily turn the tables if you weren’t careful.
But danger lurked in unexpected places, too, in the very air you breathed, for example. Working with asbestos, a material now known to cause cancer, was just another risk these brave workers faced. And then there were the Tank Cleaners, with perhaps the riskiest job of all. One fateful night in February 1995, tragedy struck when an explosion ripped through ‘Um el Faroud’ a Libyan tanker, tragically killing nine dockyard workers and shattering windows in nearby Senglea.
As time marched on, the dockyards saw their fair share of changes. From being a naval base to a civilian ship repair hub, the story of the dockyards continued to unfold. By February 1968, it stopped being a place for navy ships, and the Royal Navy left completely in 1979. From 1979 to 1996, the dockyards were managed by a workers’ council and fixed up civilian ships instead. But in 2010, facing staggering losses, Malta Shipyards Ltd had to close its doors, passing the torch to Palumbo Shipyards. And just like that, a new chapter began, with Palumbo stepping in to breathe new life into the old dockyards with the rental of a new ‘superyacht’ facility containing a drydock with a roll-back roof!
Who knows what’s next in store for these hard-working creeks?
Written with reference to:
- ‘Cottonera, Three Cities behind Brothers-in Arms’ by Christian Formosa and published by Heritage Malta, 2023.
- ‘The Dockyard from the Worker’s Perspective, 100 Interviews’ by Tony Cassar, Gianluca Falzon, Joseph Meli and Sarah Yeomans. Published by Heritage Malta, 2024.