One of our side trips took us to Fort Rinella. The British fort was built around 1880 as a response to the Italians launching two new advanced naval ships. The British were very sensitive in maintaining their supremacy in the Mediterranean and Malta was a key to open trade routes. Our tour of the fort was lead by several soldiers dressed in 19th century uniforms. Of course the best part of the tour for Cole (and me) was all the gun, musket and cannon demonstrations. As a special treat, Cole even got to join the troops and fire an 1881 8” howitzer cannon. It’s thought to be the last 8” howitzer in existence and it definitely packs quite a wallop. After putting in his earplugs, Cole waited for the command to “FIRE”.
The fort also houses the largest muzzle loading cannon ever built. The barrel is almost 40 feet long and weighs over 100 tons.
It could fire this 1 ton shell over 8 miles.
