Livadia: Russian Imperial Yacht

[ashanti01]

bedroom


Study room


another shot of the Study room

[ashanti01]

Palor Room


drawing room

[Alixz]

Beautiful pictures, ashant01, but was there an Imperial yacht name "Livadia"?  I had never heard that before.

I know about the Standart and the Polar Star.  And I thought there was even one named Tsarevna at one time.

[Robert_Hall]

Thank you, Ashanti.  Certainly the most lavish of any of the imperial yachts, at least the interiors look nothing like the others. Far more opulent, I think. A pity the bizarre design of the exterior rendered the thing a failure.

[Alixz]

Is that why I have never heard of it?  Because it was a failure?

Robert or Ashanti01, could you please post where this information is from?  I would like to look into it!   

[TheAce1918]

Same here.  I was under the impression that only the Standart was the imperial yacht...this new vessel looks grand!

[Robert_Hall]

There were several imperial yachts. The Polar Star was the Dowager Empress Marie's to use. I am away from my library [it is in SF, I am in the UK] but one one of the earlier threads dealing with the yachts, under transportation, you can find the sources. Also, lots of pictures. The Livadia, built in Scotland, I think, to the design of  some Russian admiral, was a luuxurious  interior surounded by those bizarre "wings". I forget whether it was AII or AIII who tried it ONCE and refused to use it again as it "flopped about" way too much. It was also useless  as a war vessel for the same reason- guns could not aim & fire  with the least reliability.

[Alixz]

Thank you Robert, I found the other thread and have brought the link here.

The LIVADIA was built for Alexander II (he authorized the launch but died before it happened) and launched under Alexander III which is why those of us who specialize in N&A have not heard of it.

I never really thought about other yachts for other Tsars, but of course, they would have had them.

http://forum.alexanderpalace.org/index.php/topic,812.0.html

This one appears to have been a disaster from the start.

[TheAce1918]

Thanks you guys! 
Looking at the first and second photos of the ship now, it makes sense why anyone would feel a bit uncomfortable, sailor and citizen alike.  It does appear that underneath the recoil of naval guns, the ship would be rocked relentlessly!

[Alixz]

At first glance, I had thought that those "aprons" around the sides of the ship were docking flotilla.  To protect the ship against the docks.

Where ever those photos were taken, the land is very close to the water and so the water must have been quite deep in the channel that the LIVADIA is sitting in.

From a non engineering point of view, I suppose it would make sense to think that by putting those "pontoons" or wings on the side of the ship that it would be more stable.

The interior shots are amazing!  It looks big enough to be an actual palace not the interior of a ship.  And that was the point, right?  To give the interior of the yacht more space and so be able to create the big beautiful rooms.

It looks like and artist not an engineer created the concept.  And as someone else posted ... "Where there no sea trials?"

[Robert_Hall]

I wish I could post pics from a book I have on the imperial yachts [Russia]. It is a lavish coffe-table work, in Russian. Remind me when I get back to SF and I shall try to scan some. Douglas usually steps in when it comes to the yachts...channel Douglas!

[Douglas]

Thanks Robert .

The  ill fated Livadia was a  nautical disaster from the get go.

Yes,  her odd shape did make for elegant and lavish interior cabins.  Most of her furniture ended up on the Standart.

My older posts about this ship will answer most questions. Here is the link.

http://forum.alexanderpalace.org/index.php/topic,812.0.html

I guess it can be said that she looked weird and she was weird.

Too bad that they could not have made her hull of two, side by side pontoons.  That kind of hull is in use today and is very stable. It would make a great yacht today as some do actually sail at the present time.

Douglas

PS:

Alixz:  The hull of Livadia is NOT two pontoons but one very wide hull.  The two pontoon idea had not yet been used for a large ship at that time.  It is used now with great success.   It's all in the details.

[ashanti01]

I posted the pictures because I thought they showed some of the nicest yacht interior's I had ever seen for that time period. I got the pictures from the Russian archive where you can finds ton's of images but I have to warn you, most of the pictures you're probably looking for you will have to hunt around for. Not the best organized system, but maybe if I knew Russian and used the Russian version instead of the English one, I could get somewhere

[TheAce1918]

I posted the pictures because I thought they showed some of the nicest yacht interior's I had ever seen for that time period.

IMO, those sets show the finest yacht interiors I've ever seen.  I don't think a private vessel since has come remotely close to such opulence.

[Alixz]

Douglas,

I read your information on the other thread and I brought it over here, too  

I didn't realize that those "aprons" sticking out from the side were part of the larger hull.  They look like wings!

What an amazing design!  It is good to know, though, that the furnishings ended up on the STANDART.

Thank you for all the information.