Patrol boat C-23 was on a dumping detail of illegally manufactured fireworks that tragic morning 20 years ago. It was a routine operation that followed the find and seizure by the police of the fireworks on the outskirts of Zabbar a day earlier.
Bombardier Joseph Pace, 36, of Santa Venera, gunner William Simpson, 36, of Lija, private Anthony Vella, 20, of Ghajnsielem, police sergeant Saviour Muscat, 30, of Birkirkara and police constable Joseph Hare, 24, of Sliema, perished in the violent explosion on board the patrol boat, some two miles off Qala Point in Gozo.
The remains of 36-year-old bombardier Francis Borg of Hamrun and 27-year-old private Anthony Farrugia of Zejtun were never found. Only 22-year-old private Emmanuel Montesin of Paola, survived.
The AFM commander, brigadier Carmel Vassallo, and police commissioner John Rizzo attended the Mass celebrated by the AFM chaplain, Fr Lawrence Zammit.
Relatives of the deceased soldiers and policemen, and the sole survivor, were also present. Wreaths were later laid at the foot of the monument erected at Haywharf in memory of the seven soldiers who perished in the line of duty.
Afterwards, the same Swift-class patrol boat (now re-designated P-23) and the Vittoria-class Search and Rescue (SAR) launch Melita 1 conveyed the relatives to the spot where the tragedy had occurred and flowers and wreaths were cast into the sea during a short service on board.
A national day of mourning was declared by the government on Saturday, 8 September 1984. Flag-draped coffins were brought to Malta on patrol boats C-28 and C-29, and a funeral cortege left St Luke’s Hospital.
Thousands of people gathered to pay their last respects along the route as a Task Force AFM 48-men guard of honour, led by Captain Charles Mansueto, escorted their fallen comrades.
The Swift-class patrol boat C-23 had been donated in the early 1970s by the United States government, and was one of the first craft to see the founding of the then Malta Land Force’s Maritime Battery at Senglea. After the incident, the patrol boat was taken for repairs to the Malta Drydocks Manoel Island shipyard.
She later re-entered service and with her new designation of P-23, she still serves in 2nd Regiment’s Maritime Squadron as a testimony to those brave men who served on board. P-23 conducts inshore patrols, search and rescue missions and maritime law and safety enforcement duties.