Navy of the Order of Saint John

Navy of the Order of Saint John
View of the entrance to the Grand Harbour, with various Hospitaller ships in the foreground
Active	12th century–1798
Branch	Order of Saint John of Jerusalem
Type	Navy
Base	Rhodes (1309–1522) Birgu (1530–1571) Valletta (1571–1798)
Engagements	Battle of Chios (1319) Battle of Preveza (1538) Algiers expedition (1541) Battle of Djerba (1560) Battle of Lepanto (1571) Battle of Pantelleria (1586) Action of 28 September 1644 Battle of the Dardanelles (1656) Battle of the Dardanelles (1657) Battle of Matapan (1717) Bombardment of Algiers (1784) Capture of Malta (1798) and various other battles
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Variants

The navy of the Order of Saint John, also known as the Maltese Navy after 1530, was the first navy of a chivalric order. It was established in the Middle Ages, around the late 12th century. The navy reached its peak in the 1680s, during the reign of Grand Master Gregorio Carafa. It was disbanded following the French invasion of Malta in 1798, and its ships were taken over by the French Navy.

The Knights Hospitaller were established in around 1099 to take care of pilgrims in the Holy Land. The Order was sanctioned by a papal bull in 1113, and eventually its role changed to include the defence of pilgrims as well. By the mid-12th century, the Order had purchased its first transport ships. Eventually, it began building its own ships, and had a shipyard in Acre. In the 1280s, the Order sent some ships to support the Aragonese Crusade.

Following the loss of Acre in 1291, the Hospitallers moved to Cyprus. Pope Nicholas IV encouraged the Hospitallers and other military orders such as the Knights Templar to build their own fleets, in order to enforce an embargo on Egypt. In December 1291, the Pope demanded that half of the Order's income in Europe was to be used to build up the fleet, and in January 1292, the Pope authorised the Order to use their new galleys to defend the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.

The first reference to an admiral of the Hospitaller fleet dates back to 1299. By 1306, the Order had drastically adapted to naval warfare, and it was beginning to become a maritime power.