proposed that a new fort be constructed on Orsi Point (the site where Fort Ricasoli was later built), and the name and garrison of Fort St. Angelo be transferred to the new fort. He drew up plans for the proposed fort, but they were never implemented. In the 1690s the fort again underwent major repairs. Today's layout of the fort is attributed to these works which were designed by Carlos de Grunenbergh, who also paid for the construction of four gun batteries on the side of the fort facing the entrance to Grand Harbour. As a result, one can still see his coat of arms above the main gate of the fort. When the French arrived in 1798, the fort had become a powerful fortification housing some 80 guns, 48 of which pointed towards the entrance of the port. During the short two-year period of French occupation, the Fort served as the headquarters of the French Army. British period With the coming of the British to Malta the fort retained its importance as a military installation, first in use by the Army as a Wireless Station. In fact, in 1800, two battalions of the 35th Regiment were resident in the fort. However, at the start of the 20th century, the fort was taken over by the Navy and it was commissioned as a stone frigate, originally in 1912 as HMS Egmont, when it became a base for the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean and in 1933 renamed as HMS St Angelo. The British did not make any major modifications to the fort, although they converted No. 2 Battery into a casemated battery for three nine-inch RML guns in the 1860s, and built a cinema and a water distillation plant in the early 20th century. During World War II, the fort again withstood the siege with an armament of 3 Bofors guns (manned by the Royal Marines and later by the Royal Malta Artillery). In total, the fort suffered 69 direct hits between 1940 and 1943. When the Royal Navy left Malta in 1979 the Fort was handed to the Maltese government and since then parts of the fort fell into a state of disrepair, mostly after a failed project to transform it into a hotel during the 1980s. Recent history On 5 December 1998, a treaty was signed between Malta and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta granting the upper