russian royal yacht standart

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Nicholas II’s family yachts (PHOTOS)

The last Russian emperor is often considered one of the richest people in history. His worth was estimated at $250-300 billion, if we go by what the ruble was worth in 2010. A multitude of factors must be considered when speaking of the Royal family’s ‘bank account’ ( not all is straightforward there ), but what we know for sure is that living expenses left a massive dent in the Russian Empire’s treasury. In 1894-1914, the family had the largest yacht flotilla of all monarchs on the planet. These floating castles were formally owned by the maritime department, but, in practice, belonged to the Romanov family and built to its specifications. 

‘Standart’ 

In 1892, the maritime department ordered a Danish shipyard to build a cruiser, but Alexander III soon ordered to turn it into a yacht. It was already during Nicholas II that the yacht was finally lowered into water, using ‘Standart’ - a traditional name for a tsar’s vessel (the first yacht of this name saw the light of day during Peter I’s reign, almost 200 years earlier).

Imperial Russian yacht Shtandart (1893–1961), off the coast of the Crimea, near Yalta, in 1898.

The cruiser yacht, meanwhile, was humongous: measuring 128 meters, it had a crew of almost 400! The Standart was the largest and most luxurious emperor’s yacht in the world, boasting a conference room, an exquisite dining hall for official visits, separate living room, ensuite amenities for every guest cabin and so on. The interior was fashioned with expensive wood and matched the Winter Palace in luxuriousness: crystal chandeliers, candelabras, velvet portiers and other bells and whistles.

Imperial Yacht Standart

All of that was, of course, perfect for welcoming the most esteemed guests onboard: a Siamese King, a German Emperor and a French President were all visitors at one point. However, the yacht was just as likely to be used for family outings. Nicholas and his family loved to vacation from June to early August, usually on the Finnish islands. They would live on the yacht and only set foot on land for relaxing walks. 

The Russian Imperial Family aboard the Imperial yacht Standart.

World War I put an end to those walks and yacht trips, for security reasons. In 1917, the tsar-cruiser became the site of a sailor rebellion - just as other vessels at the time, and already in April, the Baltic Fleet’s Revolutionary Committee took up residence in it. 

All of the metamorphoses that had taken place henceforth aboard the yacht did not exhibit even a trace of its former elitist flair. The ship was repurposed into a minelayer, then used in battle. After the war, the vessel served as a barracks on water and, from 1961, as target practice for missiles. By the end of the 1960s, it bore the unglamorous fate of being taken apart for parts and scrap metal. 

‘Polar Star’

The ‘Polar Star’ appeared in the Royal family earlier than the ‘Standart’, in 1888. Its construction was also that of a cruiser yacht, with four 47-millimeter cannons on board. 

Imperial Russian yacht Polyarnaya Zvezda in Copenhagen.

The cruiser served the Romanovs until 1914 and used to take the tsar on visits to European capitals, as well as participating in official military functions and celebrations. And, although the Polar Star was a more modest affair than the Standard, according to Count Ignatyev, “her rival”, which belonged to English Queen Alexandra of Denmark, Nicholas II’s aunt, “paled in comparison”. The Polar Star housed a church and even a cowshed, with a separate cabin. 

Emperor Nicholas II of Russia and Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaievich

The yacht was most frequently spotted not at official state functions, but in a small Copenhagen port, where this “dark blue beauty, fringed with a massive gold rope”, voyaged every year with Nicholas’s mother, Maria Fedorovna, aboard. The Royal family loved going shopping in Copenhagen and, although the Danish capital was only a couple of days’ travel by train, the widowed empress preferred the yacht. 

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna with Anna Vyrubova in the main deck salon of the Imperial yacht Polar Star

After the Revolution, the vessel faced a similar fate to the Standart. It was first taken up by revolutionary sailors, then, before World War II, it was repurposed to serve as a submarine mothership. In 1954, the former Romanov yacht was likewise turned into a floating barracks and, seven years later - into a target for missile tests. It was finally sunk in the 1960s. 

‘Svetlana’

Nicholas II’s uncle Prince Aleksey’s personal yacht, the ‘Svetlana’, was inspired by the 2nd class French armored cruiser, the ‘Catinat’, so was given to French engineers to design. It was lowered into the water in 1897. 

Due to the fact that the ship was first intended for Grand Duke Aleksey Aleksandrovich, it contained luxurious chambers, fashioned with expensive wood, marble and persian rugs. The Portuguese queen once took a 45-minute tour of the yacht, allegedly never hiding her amazement.

But, aside from taking the Royal family on vacations and serving as an armored minelayer and escort, the vessel also managed to take part in battle. Aside from soft couches and marble, the ship was armed to the teeth: in 1904, it was included in Russia’s Pacific Fleet and sent to fight in the Russo-Japanese War. Having received a direct shell hit during the Battle of Tsushima, the cruiser attempted to get itself to safety, but was detected and sustained heavy Japanese fire. Almost 300 sailors lost their lives. An investigative committee set up after the battle determined that the crew of the Svetlana “showed exemplary fortitude and self-sacrifice”. This appraisal was especially important to those who had survived: prior to the war, the Pacific Fleet’s sailors considered them “maids” and their ship - a “floating hotel”, instead of a fighting unit. 

A dozen smaller yachts 

The list didn’t end there. Almost every Romanov relative used to own their own cruiser. From 1905, one such vessel - the ‘Almaz’ (‘Diamond’) - acted as a double. For six long years, it would swap places with the Standart in Finland - their silhouettes were extremely similar. The security measures weren’t unfounded: there was word that, in 1907, a floating mine was spotted on approach to Kotkin Bay. The Almaz was docked in the Standart’s place that day. 

Imperial Russian cruiser Almaz.

However, aside from these humongous yachts, the Romanovs also used a dozen smaller ones: the ‘Tsarina’, ‘Aleksandria’, ‘Slavyanka’, ‘Livadia’ and others. They were used for relaxed outings around that same area and not for official state visits to Europe.

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Russian yacht Standart

From wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Standart was an Imperial Russian yacht serving Emperor Nicholas II and his family, being in her time (late 19th/early 20th century), the largest imperial yacht afloat. After the Russian Revolution, the ship was placed in drydock until 1936, when she was converted to a minelayer . During World War II , she participated in the defence of Leningrad .

Soviet minelayer Marti

After the fall of the Romanov dynasty, Standart was stripped down and pressed into naval service. The ship was renamed 18 marta (18 March), and later Marti (in honor of André Marty ). In 1932–1936, Marti was converted into a minelayer by the Marti yard in Leningrad . During the Second World War , Marti served in the Baltic , laying mines and bombarding shore positions along the coast. On 23 September 1941, Marti was damaged in an air attack at Kronstadt , but later repaired and continued service until the end of the war. A mine laid off Hanko by Marti sunk the German submarine chaser UJ.117/ Gustav Kroner on 1 October 1941.

After the war, Marti was converted into a training ship and renamed Oka in 1957. She continued serving in that role until she was scrapped at Tallinn , Estonia , in 1963.

Specifications

• Displacement: 5557 tons
• Length: 370 feet (110   m) between perpendiculars
• Length Overall: 420 feet (130   m)
• Width: 50   feet 8   inches (15.44   m)
• Depth: 20 feet (6.1   m)
• Maximum Speed: 21.18 knots

External links

• Russian Imperial Yacht Standart
• Royal Russia – Russian Imperial Yacht, the Standart

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Soviet minelayer Marti

After the fall of the Romanov dynasty, Standart was stripped down and pressed into naval service. The ship was renamed 18 marta (18 March), and later Marti (in honor of André Marty ). In 1932–1936, Marti was converted into a minelayer by the Marti yard in Leningrad . During the Second World War , Marti served in the Baltic , laying mines and bombarding shore positions along the coast. On 23 September 1941, Marti was damaged in an air attack at Kronstadt , but later repaired and continued service until the end of the war. A mine laid off Hanko by Marti sunk the German submarine chaser UJ.117/ Gustav Kroner on 1 October 1941.

After the war, Marti was converted into a training ship and renamed Oka in 1957. She continued serving in that role until she was scrapped at Tallinn , Estonia , in 1963.

Specifications

• Displacement: 5557 tons
• Length: 370feet between perpendiculars
• Length Overall: 420feet
• Width: 50inchesft8inchesin (ftin)
• Depth: 20feet
• Maximum Speed: 21.18 knots

External links

• Russian Imperial Yacht Standart
• Royal Russia – Russian Imperial Yacht, the Standart

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Royal superyachts: how kings and queens sail the sea.

• Magisterial mega-yachts have ferried royals around the world
• "Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia" is one of the most splendid examples
• Others include yachts owned by the royal families of Dubai, Monaco and Norway

(CNN) -- Before luxury yachting was the preserve of Russian tycoons and Silicon Valley moguls, it was only the world's wealthiest royals who built palaces on the sea.

There have been and continue to be a fleet of imperial yachts used to transport royals, from Russian czars to princes of Monaco, in the opulent fashion to which they are accustomed.

"Britannia"

There are probably few finer examples of a regal leisure boat than "Her Majesty's Yacht (HMY) Britannia," built in 1953 for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.

Now decommissioned and on display in Edinburgh, Scotland, the vast and lavishly designed " HMY Britannia " has sailed over one million miles during 44 years of service and in the course of 968 official royal visits.

Once described by Queen Elizabeth as "the one place where I can truly relax," the royal yacht, built to many of the queen's specifications, boasts huge dining rooms adorned with gifts and curiosities from around the world, including a whale rib found by her husband on a beach.

In addition, there's a sun lounge with furniture chosen by the queen and a garage built to house the royal Rolls-Royce.

Sir Winston Churchill, Boris Yeltsin, Rajiv Gandhi and Nelson Mandela are among the famous names who have joined the queen on board over the years, but "HMY Britannia" was also deployed for more private and romantic occasions.

As Kate and William add the finishing touches to their wedding plans , they may well feel a pang of regret that "Britannia" is no longer in service. Four royal honeymoons took place on board, including Prince Charles and Princess Diana's 16-day trip in the Mediterranean.

"Dubai"

Today, the undisputed champion of royal vessels belongs to Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, whose $300 million mega-yacht is christened -- somewhat unimaginatively -- "Dubai."

Measuring 524 feet long, it's the world's second-largest yacht, eclipsed only by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's suitably named "Eclipse."

Three elevators and one vast open glass stairway serve its multitude of decks which, aside from the gold-finished, jewel-encrusted VIP guestrooms and appropriately palatial master bedrooms, contain a squash room, spa, banquet hall and cinema. And did we mention the helicopter pad up top?

In keeping with the fantasy-flavored extravagance of "Dubai," the yacht is moored year-round on the artificial "Logo Island," situated next to the country's emblematic, man-made archipelago "Palm Islands" -- built from one billion cubic meters of rock and sand.

"Standart"

If you thought that Abramovich and his fellow billionaires were the first of their countrymen to build ultra-ostentatious pleasure boats, then think again.

The Russian imperial yacht "Standart," built according to the specifications of Emperor Alexander III and his son Nicholas, was the largest imperial yacht on the oceans during the late 19th and early 20th century.

Completed in 1895, the opulent vessel was 401 feet long -- about the length of a soccer pitch -- colossal even by today's immodest standards.

Indeed, "Standart" was a veritable floating palace, adorned with mahogany-paneled drawing rooms, formal salons with polished floors, brass fittings, crystal chandeliers and velvet drapes.

The czar's private study was furnished in dark leather and elegant wooden furniture, while the czarina's drawing room and boudoir were bedecked in her favorite English chintz. The imperial yacht even had its own chapel for the private use of the family.

However, Russia's largest royal yacht was also her last. After the revolution in 1917, the ship was stripped of all its elegance, renamed "Vosemnadtsate Martza" and refitted as a drab, gray minelayer for service in the Soviet Navy. The boat was scrapped at Tallinn in Estonia in 1963.

"M/Y Grace"

Decked out with a Jacuzzi, sea kayaks, snorkeling gear and wetsuits, "M/Y Grace" is one of the few specially tailored yachts fit to chart the delicate waters surrounding the Galapagos Islands.

The boat's regal past is only hinted at in its name. "M/Y Grace," as the vessel is now known, was once the royal yacht of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco.

When American actress Grace Kelly married the prince of Monaco, the couple were extensively pictured honeymooning on this exquisite 147-foot-long yacht, given to them as a wedding gift by prominent Greek shipping merchant Aristotle Onassis.

The boat was captured on boundless newsreels as cameras and reporters followed Kelly on her last voyage from the United States to her new home in what was then styled "the wedding of the century." The couple left the day after the ceremony to cruise the coasts of Corsica and Sardinia.

"K/S Norge"

The K/S Norge is one of the last active royal yachts in Europe, belonging to Herald V, King of Norway.

Built in 1937 by Camper and Nicholson, the oldest leisure marine company in the world, the boat was originally owned by British aviation pioneer Sir Thomas Sopwith -- who had given it over to the UK's Royal Navy to serve as a convoy escort vessel during World War II.

In July 1947, the ship was purchased by the people of Norway as a present to the much beloved King Haakon VII for his 75th birthday. The royal yacht was renamed "Norge," the Norwegian word for Norway.

Still used today for state visits abroad, the classically shaped yacht is also employed as a base for the king when he competes in international yacht races.

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