The organisation of the Order of St John's fleet in the eighteenth century

Abstract

'The military and naval exploits of the Knights of St John have naturally captured the attention of numerous authors. But further studies should be made of espionage and of various auxiliary services, such as engineering and sanitation,' wrote Professor Bernard C. Weber way back in 1958. Continuing on the same lines, he went on to assert that 'Topics connected with the administrative organisation of the navy, the recruitment of seamen, the use of Maltese and foreigners not Knights in the naval service of the Order, and the life on the galleys have not been exhausted. The numerous ship logs of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries preserved in the Royal Malta Library deserve careful examination by the qualified researcher.' In 1975, these words prompted me to carry out research on the general organisation of the galley squadron in the first half of the seventeenth century and have also spurred me on to present an account of the organisation of the Order's fleet, that is, the two distinct squadrons of galleys and third rates, in the eighteenth. [...]