The destroyer Citadella was constructed at Corsica Outer Sanctum in 815 and commissioned into the service of the Maltese Navy in the dawn of 816. With the Tau war in its height at that time, the Citadella was quickly dispatched as a border reconnaissance vessel to secure the safety of the Tau smuggling corridor.
With the appearance of the Gallic threat and the advance of the Royal Navy into Sirius in 817, the Citadella was called back to the core Maltese worlds in the Omicrons. Its captain was promoted and given a new ship to command, while the Citadella was repurposed as a training vessel for new corvette captains.
In 823 the Citadella was refitted for active duty at Valetta shipyard and put back into active service under corvette captain Francisco Salazar. The ship participated in a number of minor engagements within the Tau smuggling corridor with enemy forces of the Crayterian Republic, the Gallic Royal Navy as well as the Liberty Navy.
Damage to the ship's hull plating forced the Citadella's return to Valetta for maintenance in late 823 and in January 824 the then captain of the vessel, corvette captain Salazar, pledged allegiance to the 1st Maltese Legion. From then on until the disbandment of the 1st Maltese Legion, the Citadella served as a mobile base of operations mainly within the Tau sector. After the disappearance of the 1st Legion, Salazar remained in command of the Citadella, but the ship saw little action as it was then stationed in the Omicron Phi system as part of the guard perimeter.
In 825, with the resurrection of the Maltese Legion, the Citadella once more entered service under its banner as a flagship to the reincarnating movement, but by 826 with the inclusion of the Serenissima warships into service of the 2nd Legion, the role of a flagship was given away to the much more formidable Saint Mark. While captain Salazar remains the most notable captain of the Citadella, several other legionnaires have been commanding the warship during several engagements in the period of 824 to 826.
The Saint Mark was born out of a rather controversial influential move made by a wealthy Maltese captain, Niccolò di Lupia, alongside the Venice Lead Engineer, Andrea Antonio Stradivari. Its construction began in 821 A.S. in one of the dry-docks of Venice Shipyard, thanks to a set of bribes that secured the shipbuilding contract to be done far from the much more secured Corsica in Omicron Phi.
After over eight months of construction, the ship was finished and commissioned under the very same di Lupia. Shortly after its deployment, the warship disappeared into the Sigmas. Due to the shady nature of the ship's construction not much noise was made regarding the disappearance among the Maltese public circles.
Nevertheless the ship eventually reinstated communication with Malta around 825 A.S., albeit under the banner of the Serenissima, a mercenary band that was rather loosely affiliated with Malta. Its members were composed of both Maltese as well as foreign mercenaries and bounty hunters who joined di Lupia over the time the Saint Mark was in hiding around the Sigmas sector.
While di Lupia was considered the captain of the Saint Mark, the command of the ship and its crew was entrusted under Executive Officer Alberto Vesco. Niccolò di Lupia's sole interest in wealth, fame and power eventually led to the downfall of Serenissima somewhere around late 825 or early 826. Di Lupia disappeared and soon after most of his mercenaries split from the Serenissima to seek new fortunes.
The Maltese that stayed under what was left of the Serenissima were absorbed into the Maltese Legion in February 826 A.S. and the Saint Mark, along with the destroyer Saint Theodore have been an invaluable asset to the Legion since. XO Alberto Vesco is still the commanding officer on the Saint Mark.
The Storta-class destroyer that would become the Providence was constructed in early 824 A.S. as part of a new production line in Corsica Shipyard. Due to the presence of Royal Navy and Council forces in the systems bordering Omicron Alpha at the time, it was commissioned into service by August of the same year.
Initially under the command of retired captain Andres Aguilera, for the next two years the Providence fought in battles, mainly against the Gallic Royal Navy. After the Gallic Royal Navy's push on New London and the eventual reformation of Gallia under a confederacy in early 827 AS, command was eventually transferred to De Luca.
The ship underwent a minor refit by July of the same year, and was subsequently deployed, along with the main Maltese contingent, into the Sigma-17 system where it played an active role in the attack on Atka Research Station after a three-way skirmish between the Maltese, Corsairs, and the Cryer/GMG forces broke out. Later, the Providence also played a role in the operation known as Orange Hammer, leading to considerable damage to Crayterian assets.
By April 828 A.S., De Luca was admitted to the Legión Maltesa and subsequently the Providence became a part of its capital fleet. It underwent some minor refits in Corsica Shipyard to accommodate some of the newest technologies currently being developed by Maltese engineers.
De Luca is the current commanding officer of the Providence. It has continued to fight for the Legion's interests and is currently stationed near Genoa Base in the Tau-37 system, ready to defend Maltese interests from the Gallic military, this time under the banner of the Gallic Union.
The result of a partnership between two prominent families of Malta, the Platea was named for the region where a vast plain of orange grass naturally grows in the western regions of Planet Malta. It was constructed in late 826 A.S. in Valletta Shipyard and was commissioned in January of the following year.
For the next eight months, the Platea served as the common flagship of the two families, and rarely, if ever, ventured outside of Omicron Alpha. It also had very little experience in combat, because its main purpose was to defend the planet from any hostile incursions, which only happened very rarely.
When the head of one Maltese family died by natural causes at the age of 130, the rest of the family decided to take the Platea back to Valleta Shipyard, where it soon fell under the command of De Luca in late 827 A.S and was subsequently made combat-capable.
Under the command of De Luca, the Platea was involved in the operation known as Orange Hammer. Soon afterwards, it was deployed to Tau-23 to protect Cali from intruding Crayterian, Gallic, and Kusarian forces.
Like the Providence, the Platea was transferred to the Legión Maltesa in April 828 A.S. where it is still commanded by De Luca. Since then, the Platea has made a name as one of the most feared capital assets of the Legión, managing to snatch victory from defeat in many occasions.
One of the older generation "Sarissa"-class ships, the Santa Teresa has seen many commanders and affiliated groups within its eight years in service of Malta. Originally built in Valletta Shipyard in September 820 A.S., it was assigned under the command of Francesca Cinquetti, under the designation of "Venezia".
The "Sarissa"-class would see its first major action, like most other Maltese ships of its generation, in the defense of Tau-37 against a large Royal Navy battlegroup in 821 A.S., which ended in a victory for the Maltese defenders. For the next three years, Cinquetti continued to command the ship until her untimely death in 824 A.S., after a surprise Crayterian attack on Planet Malta led to her escape pod crash-landing into the planet.
Heavily damaged, the Venezia was towed back to Valletta Shipyard. Repairs to the ship lasted around three months, and soon after its redeployment, Giovanni Lombardi took the position of captain, where it would fly under the banner of the newly-formed Guardia Svizzera.
Under the command of Lombardi, the Venezia was tasked to solely defend planet Malta from hostile incursions, and within the next four years it has repelled numerous Coalition, Corsair, and Crayterian invasions while also participating in counterattacks against the latter two factions. As the Guardia Svizzera, once revered by most of the Maltese, faded into obscurity by 828 A.S., Giovanni Lombardi relinquished his control of the Venezia and subsequently went into retirement.
The Venezia would soon become an asset of the Legión Maltesa, under the command of De Luca, under the designation of "Santa Teresa". However, its goals have remained unchanged. Today, the Santa Teresa is stationed within the Maltese planetary defense fleet, ready to unleash its wrath to any intruder that tries to spread destruction to Malta.