[EVENT] The Santa Anna and Santa Maria are completed!

21^st of May 1509

Much rejoicing is had as the two behemoths are lowered into the waters of the harbour of Malta. Pietro de Cervera as quartermaster of the Santa Anna was there to witness the moment the great carrack reached the water.

He had not seen anything like it in his life. The Santa Anna‍ '​s underwater hull was completely sheathed with lead plates, giving it waterproothing and tightening its strength against cannonfire. Above the waterline two of the six decks were also armoured with lead plates, which were fastened by bronze nails to the wooden hull.

The Santa Anna was designed to accommodate 500 marines besides her sailors and she featured large below-deck cabins and messes for her officers. The carrack housed a forge, where three weapon smiths could do maintenance work at sea. The ship even called several ovens and a mill its own, in order to provide the crew with fresh bread. As if to celebrate its uniqueness, the ship also featured a garden on board with flowers hanging down from the stern gallery in boxes.

It was so big and powerful that it could withstand an attack from a fifty strong galley squadron. It carried big guns on its main deck whilst the two upper decks were armed with small caliber guns. In fact the main armament of the carrack consisted of fifty big guns classed as culverins and reinforced cannons which were all distributed on the two main gun decks, on the bows, the stern and the waist of the ship. Short and at the same time heavily cast reinforced guns were located on the sides of the carrack.

It also carried small caliber guns on its mast tops, whilst smaller guns called bombards, falcons and falconets were also fitted onto this ship. The Santa Maria was a similar monster. Pietro could hardly believe the huge floating fortresses that had been built that day.