Maltese fleet in the 17th century

[Anatol]

The Order of the Hospitallers likely originated as a group associated with the Amalfi Hospital in the Muristan district of Jerusalem, which was dedicated to St. John the Baptist and founded around 1023 by Blessed Gerard Thomas to provide care for poor, sick, and wounded pilgrims to the Holy Land. Following the conquest of Jerusalem by Latin Christians in 1099 during the First Crusade, the organization became a religious and military order under its own papal charter, charged with the care and protection of the Holy Land. After the conquest of the Holy Land by Islamic forces, the order operated first in Rhodes and then in Malta.
The Navy of the Order of St. John, also known as the Maltese Navy, was the navy of the Knights Hospitaller. Founded in the Middle Ages in the 12th century, it moved to Malta, which belonged to the Hospitallers, in 1530 and reached its peak in the 1680s under the leadership of Grand Master Gregorio Carafa.
The first mention of an admiral of the Hospitaller fleet dates back to 1299. By 1306, the Order had radically adapted to naval warfare and began to develop into a maritime power. [
The Order arrived in Malta on October 26, 1530, on several ships, including the San Giovanni, Santa Croce, San Filippo, and the flagship Santa Anna.
Based in Malta, the Order and its fleet participated in a number of naval battles against the Ottoman fleet and Barbary pirates. The Order sent caravels and galleys to support the Spanish Empire and its allies in the conquest and liberation of Corona (1532-1533) and the conquest of Tunis in 1535.
In the Great Siege of 1565, Fort Saint Elmo fell to the Ottomans, but the Order eventually won the siege with the help of Sicilian reinforcements. The victorious Grand Master, Jean de Valette, immediately set out to build a new fortified city on the Sciberras Peninsula to fortify the Order's position in Malta and bind the Knights to the island. The city took his name and was called La Valletta.
Malta 1998; 26с; Ms.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy_of_t ... Saint_John.