Hundreds of postcards of warships, submarines in Malta can now be viewed online

A collection of hundreds of postcards and photographs showing warships and submarines that visited Malta across almost a century has been added to Heritage Malta’s online museum platform. 

The collection was started by Judge Emeritus Giovanni Bonello when he was a child. Bonello donated the almost 1,500 postcards and photos taken in Maltese harbours between the 1880s and 1970s to Heritage Malta, which has now uploaded them to the recently inaugurated eMuseum platform for the public to enjoy for free. 

Some of the scenes depicted show very rare ships that sailed into Malta's harbours, such as the battleships Breslau and Goeben during World War I. These photos will now also become an important part of the Maritime Museum’s collection. 

HMS Polyphemus had an odd feature − a ram more commonly seen on ancient warships. Photo: Heritage Malta.

Among the more curious images is the torpedo ram HMS Polyphemus lying in Dockyard Creek. This short-lived late 19th-century experiment sought to combine emerging technologies with a very archaic naval tactic. It was designed to penetrate enemy harbours at speed and sink anchored ships. 

The Bonello donation also documents Malta’s shifting strategic significance. Many of the postcards date to a period when the island functioned as a global and regional projector of British imperial power, particularly from the 1920s onward, when the Mediterranean Fleet increasingly expected itself to intervene in the Far East against possible Japanese expansion.

British S-class submarine HMS Solent in the Grand Harbour. Photo: Heritage Malta

The collection also reflects Malta’s offensive role during World War II and its history as a NATO base during a portion of the Cold War. 

Following the donation, the entire collection was digitised and catalogued, and has now been uploaded into Heritage Malta’s collections management system and made available on the public-facing web platform of the eMuseum.  

Heritage Malta said that when it receives such important donations, it actively looks for innovative and engaging ways to make such contributions accessible to the public.

The Turkish submarine Turgut Reis - or as he is known in Malta, Dragut - in 1962. Photo: Heritage Malta

“This approach ensures that these items are not confined to a reserved collection or merely placed in a museum, but are shared widely for public appreciation and accessibility,” the agency said. 

Bonello served at the European Court of Human Rights for 12 years. A prolific author and historian, he regularly shares his vast collection of old photographs and postcards on Times of Malta.