yacht standardt 1895

[Douglas]

The Livadia was one of the most weird ships to ever sail.  It is even listed in a book about strange ships.

It was like a giant floating saucer.  In even the slightest sea the ship would heave to and fro like some drunken whale.  The design was called a 'turbot'.

It was built because Admiral Popov, was a great believer in this type of ship and he somehow convinced the  Tsar that  what he needed was a grand yacht built on this design idea.  What did the Tsar  know about ship design?  Nothing!

The result was 'total disaster at sea'.

She sailed only a few times....was tied up at the dock...the elegant furnishings removed and that was that.

[Douglas]

Harald and friends fo the yachts:

Yes, the Tsar was looking for a more stable design because of some family members that were prone to be seasick.

Yes, the Russian Navy did make some gunboats of the turbot design but they were a disaster.  It seems that they were so  unstable as a gun platform, that when the ship bounced back and forth the gun was either pointing at the water  or high in the sky.  It was impossible to aim the gun at a target.

The irony of the whole debacle was that instead of providing a very smooth riding ship with little leaning, he actually made a ship that was the exact opposite!

Instead of  stability, he produced a ship of extreme unstability.  To imagine how it was, just place a large tea tray in a swimming pool and make a few waves.  I get seasick just thinking about it.

Douglas  

[E-38]

You can read memories Olga Voronoff, wife of "Standard" michman Paul Voronoff  http://kleinmichel.prov.ru/upheaval.php
and foto "Standart" here http://kleinmichel.prov.ru/img2/pages/The%20Emperor%2C%20the%20Grand%20Duke%20Alexis%20and%20the%20Grand%20Duchesses%20Anastasia%20and%20Olga.htm

[Douglas]

Harald:  Good to see you on this site after an absence.

Where should I look on my plans for the cow stable?  I have heard about the imperial milk cow.  

Also it was common to have live chickens onboard  for some fresh Chicken Kiev or stew.  These birds may have been housed in cages on the upper decks.

In photographs I have seen kittens near the stern dining salon.

[Douglas]

Harald:

I will send you the photos of Standart this weekend.  Look for them  in your email.

[Douglas]

Here is a photo graph of the china used on the Standart.

Click on the link.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/Douglas606/standartchinaandglassware.jpg

[ptitchka]

Many thanks for the photos of the Heir!  May I ask in what book you found them?

[Joanna]

They are standing next to one of the six Hotchkiss saluting guns - As posted earlier I would love to see a clear picture of the gun as used onboard Standart. I'll guess I have to visit SPB soon again.

Harald

Hi Harald,

Have you checked the albums at Yale for a possible view of the Hotchkiss from another angle?

Joanna

[Mike]

May be Mike can enlighten us.

Happily! I've just asked a friend who served as a sailor and later as a surgeon on Soviet warships. In his opinion (corroborated by a brief web research), Russian sailors used to go barefoot aboard ships with wood-covered decks. The only footwear issued to them were boots tapped with metal plates, which damaged the immaculately clean wooden boards.

With the advent of metal decks this custom was abolished, and my friend fervently denies having ever seen barefoot sailors on the upper deck of his destroyer - except maybe in the summer evening leisure hours.

Here I'd like to add that it's a distinct feature of the so called "Russian national character" to occasionally wear winter clothes (like sheepskin coat or felt boots -  valenki) in summer, and to go barefoot and wearing just a shirt in harsh winter. All that of course for short periods of time and mainly within one's own backyard.

[Forum Admin]

Tchagine did indeed commit suicide. HOWEVER it was not over this incident. He shot himself the evening of October 11/12 (OS), 1912.  He had never married, and earlier that season in Livadia, he had a sexual affair with a much younger girl.  She and her parents followed him to Petersburg, demanding something be done.  His only option was to marry her, and for that he needed the Emperor's permission. He resolved to go to Spala and explain everything to the Emperor and let the Emperor decide what to do. He could not face the disgrace before the Emperor, who considered him to be a very very close friend, and so he shot himself.
See Spirdovitch, Vol 2, Ch. 12 "The year 1912"

Harald, the correct term in English is "Rear-Admiral".

Douglas, quite the opposite actually. The IF felt very much at home on the Standardt, and the officers of the Standardt were some of their closest friends.  The IF had no reservations whatsoever about "mingling" with the sailors. In fact, the youngest sailors were often Alexei's playmates on their voyages. They often spent entire evenings playing games after dinner with the Standardt officers not on duty.

[Douglas]

Forum Admin:

It is my understanding that the IF did socialize with the sailors and officers of the Standart on an" invitation only" basis.  I have never heard that the Empress or Tsar would find themselves wandering around the areas of the yacht that were the domain of the crew.

If you have any references about this we would enjoy to read them.

[Joanna]

Hi Harald,

In the remarkable site Rosizo that Thomas A. linked to in another post, there is a paragraph in an article on the State Museum of History of Jewellery Masterpieces:

"...The commander of the Imperial yacht «Standard» belonging to the Emperor Nicholas II wrote in his memoir: «…Dinner was served at 8:00 and everyone got dressed up. Her Majesty appeared in a mass of precious stones, and that variety changed from day to day; if Her Majesty wore diamonds, they were everywhere — on her head in the diadem, on her hands in rings and bracelets, and in various brooches. If she wore emeralds, they were everywhere, too; same with sapphires and rubies»..."

http://rosizo.ru/eng/japan/gim_jewerly.html

The article does not quote sources but I am wondering if you know of this Commander, the title of the memoir and whether it was ever published or privately printed and now in the archive?

Joanna

[Mike]

Standart is shown here during her extensive trials just before she came into service with the Imperial Russian Navy.

Harald, she seems to bear an Emperor's pennant on her main mast - was Nicolas on board during these trials?...

[Joanna]

There is a reference to Admiral Nilov. It would be interesting to know more about him and if there are any of his papers in the archives.

Vasilij Vasilievich Nilov, born in Saint-Petersburg in 1896, participant of 3 wars, in 1936 - colonel, in 1943 - artillery "break-through division" commander, during the war presented to the General of Artillery rank.
His three elder brothers: officers of Tsar Russian Army, oldest (Ivan) - colonel of Tsar Army. His far relative: Admiral Konstantin Nilov, flag-captain of Emperor's flagman yacht "Shtandart"

http://www.antver.com/history.html

Joanna

[Joanna]

Of Paul's photo number 21 of the topic AP August 24 (link is not working at the moment), did anyone else print it? This shows a large painting of a yacht that I think is of the Standart. Can anyone identify it and the artist? Was this painting originally in Nicholas' suite of rooms?

Joanna