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.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Russian Empire | |
| Name | Standart |
| Namesake | Emperor's Naval Standard |
| Owner | Imperial Russian Navy |
| Ordered | 19 June 1893 |
| Builder | Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Yard number | 183 |
| Laid down | 1 October 1893 |
| Launched | 10 March 1895 |
| Commissioned | September 1896 |
| Decommissioned | 1918 |
 Soviet Union | |
| Name | Marti |
| Owner | Soviet Navy |
| Reinstated | 1936 (as minelayer) |
| Fate | Scrapped, 1963 |
| General characteristics (as royal yacht) | |
| Displacement | 5557 tons standard |
| Length | 128 m (420 ft) |
| Beam | 15.8 m (52 ft) |
| Draught | 6.00 m (19 ft 8 in) |
| Propulsion | 2 Triple Expansion Steam Engines |
| Speed | 21.18 knots |
| Complement | 355 |
| Armament | 8 – 47 mm (1.9 in) guns (Hotchkiss) |
| General characteristics (as Marti) | |
| Displacement | 5665 tons standard, 6198 tons deep load |
| Length | 122.30 m (401 ft 3 in) |
| Beam | 14.4 m (47 ft 3 in) |
| Draught | 6.80 m (22 ft 4 in) |
| Propulsion | 2 shaft, 2 Triple Expansion Steam Engines, 4 boilers |
| Speed | 18,85 knots |
| Complement | 400 |
| Armament |
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History
editImperial yacht
editThe imperial yacht Standart (Штандартъ) was built by order of Emperor Alexander III of Russia, and constructed at the Danish shipyard of Burmeister & Wain, beginning in 1893. She was launched on 21 March 1895 and came into service early September 1896.
Standart was fitted out with ornate fixtures, including mahogany paneling, crystal chandeliers, and other amenities that made the vessel a suitable floating palace for the Russian imperial family. The ship was crewed by sailors from the Russian Imperial Navy. During the reign of Nicholas II, Standart was commanded by a naval captain, although the official commander was a rear admiral. Her commander in 1914 was Nikolai Pavlovich Sablin.
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On October the 9th 1904 (gregorian Calendar) while the yacht was in Tallinn the Tsar hosted a dinner for the admirals and captains of the Baltic fleet 2 days before their departure to the pacific which would end in the Battle of Tsushima.[1] On 29 August 1907, Standart ran aground on an uncharted rock off the Finnish coast close to the Riilahti Manor. Although damaged, the ship did not sink. She was refloated on 1 September with assistance from the icebreaker No. 1. Subsequently, repaired and returned to service.[2] With the outbreak of World War I, Standart was placed in drydock.
In 1912, Emperors Nicholas II of Russia and Wilhelm II of Germany met on the yacht at Paldiski naval harbour for negotiations.
Soviet minelayer Marti
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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
edit- 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
Previous imperial yachts
edit- Alexandria (Александрия)
- Livadia
- Polyarnaya zvezda (Polar Star – Полярная звезда)
Notes
edit- ^ Pleshakov, Constantine (2002). The Tsar's Last Armada. Oxford: Basic Books. p. 85. ISBN 1-903985-31-5.
- ^ Chernyshev, Alexander Alekseevich (2012). Погибли без боя. Катастрофы русских кораблей XVIII–XX вв [They died without a fight. Catastrophes of Russian ships of the XVIII-XX centuries] (in Russian). Veche. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
References
edit- Frampton, Viktor (2012). "Question 25/46: Imperial German Yachts". Warship International. XLIX (3): 225–226. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946
- McBride, Keith; Robinson, Richard; Sturton, Ian & Trimbath, Kevin (1991). "Question 12/90". Warship International. XXVIII (4). International Naval Research Organization: 399–402. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Twardoski, Marek & Johnson, Harold (1993). "Question 23/90: Imperial Russian Yacht Standart". Warship International. XXX (3): 314–317. ISSN 0043-0374.
External links
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Media related to Standart (ship, 1895) at Wikimedia Commons