Cospicua or Bormla, occasionally also known by the Latin name Cottonera, is a double-fortified harbour city in the Port Region of Malta. As Maleth, it served as the principal port of Phoenician Malta and, through Greek, Latin, and Arabic, may have given its name to the island and country. Along with Birgu and Senglea, it is one of the Three Cities located within the Grand Harbour to the east of the capital city Valletta. With a population of 5,395 as of March 2014, it is the most dense city of the Three Cities. Locals are known for their Cottonera dialect.

The city's fortifications, namely the Santa Margherita Lines and the Cottonera Lines, are largely intact although they are in need of restoration. Saint Helen's Gate, also known as Vilhena Gate, is a gateway which forms part of the Santa Margherita Lines which is a tourist attraction itself. The Dock area also has some Georgian architecture

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Malta Dockyard

Malta Dockyard was an important naval base in the Grand Harbour in Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. The infrastructure which is still in operation is now operated by Palumbo Shipyards

The Knights of Malta established dockyard facilities within the Grand Harbour to maintain their fleet of galleys. These were spread between the cities of Senglea, Cospicua and Vittoriosa.

When Malta became a British protectorate in 1800, these facilities were inherited, and gradually consolidated, by the Royal Navy. With the loss of Menorca, Malta swiftly became the Navy's principal Mediterranean base

The Royal Navy Dockyard was initially located around Dockyard Creek in Bormla, and occupied several of the dockyard buildings formerly used by the Knights of Malta. By 1850 the facilities included storehouses, a ropery, a small steam factory, victualling facilities, houses for the officers of the Yard, and most notably a dry dock – the first to be provided for a Royal Dockyard outside Britain. Begun in 1844, the dry dock was opened in 1847; ten years later it was extended to form a double dock (No. 1 and No. 2 dock)

The decision was taken to expand into the adjacent French Creek, and between 1861 and 1909 a further five dry docks—three single plus one double dock—were constructed there, along with an assortment of specialized buildings to serve the mechanized Navy.

It was an important supply base during the First World War and the Second World War. In January 1941 sixty German dive bombers made a massed attack on the dockyard in an attempt to destroy the damaged British aircraft carrier Illustrious, but she received only one bomb hit. Incessant German and Italian bombing raids targeted Malta through March, opposed by only a handful of British fighters. Then in April 1942 the Admiral Superintendent of Malta Dockyard reported that due to German air attacks on Malta's naval base "practically no workshops were in action other than those underground; all docks were damaged; electric power, light and telephones were largely out of action.

In 2010, Malta Shipyards Ltd was placed into liquidation and its assets were given over to Palumbo Shipyards. In the course of its government ownership, the dockyard had accumulated €1bn in losses. In 2011, Palumbo acquired on a 30-year lease the neighbouring "superyacht" facility, which includes a drydock with a retractable roof.

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U-81 is a yacht support vessel built by Damen in 2022. She was originally constructed as a supply vessel before being converted into a yacht support vessel. As a conversion project, U-81 underwent significant changes to meet the requirements of the luxury yacht industry.

www.superyachtfan.com

The fortifications of Senglea (Maltese: Is-Swar tal-Isla) are a series of defensive walls and other fortifications which surround the city of Senglea, Malta. The first fortification to be built was Fort Saint Michael in 1552, and the majority of the fortifications were built over the next decade when it was founded by Grand Master Claude de la Sengle. Modifications continued until the 18th century, but large parts of the fortifications were demolished between the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, all that remain of Senglea's fortifications are the seaward bastions and part of the land front.

Senglea's fortifications have been on Malta's tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1998, as part of the Knights' Fortifications around the Harbours of Malta.

Large parts of Senglea and Bormla fortifications in French creek were demolished and rebuilt to make way for part of the Malta Dockyard in Bormla during the 19th century. The land front was also heavily altered in the early 20th century, but the remaining fortifications were included on the Antiquities List of 1925. The entire city, including parts of its fortifications, was severely damaged by aerial bombardment in World War II.

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My great-great-Uncle, Thomas Gaylard, was in the Royal Navy and served in the Crimean War. He was discharged from his ship in 1856 and lived in Senglea and got married in this church in 1857.