The carrack of the Order

Abstract

The carrack Sant Anna was the wonder ship of her time in the Mediterranean. The Sant Anna was launched in 1522 mostly at the same time when the knights lost Rhodes after a long siege by the Turks. The Order of St John settled in Malta in 1530 and the knights brought with them the carracks Santa Maria and Sant Anna. The first carrack was destroyed by fire in 1531 but the Sant Anna provided a sterling service to the Order. It was reputed to be strong enough and well-equipped to face a squadron of fifty enemy galleys and it proved its worth at Coron and at the Dardanelles in 1532 and at La Goletta in1535. The crowned, wooden statue of St Joseph found at his national sanctuary at Rabat, the effigy of St Anne at the St Elmo chapel, the panels of the musicians' balcony, at the Palace, Valletta, and the great painting of the Sant Anna at the Żabbar Sanctuary Museum are the few remaining relics which bear witness to the famous warship which was once, the pride of the knights of Malta.