Russian yacht Standart

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Shtandart-Yalta.jpg
Standart arriving at Yalta, Crimea
History
Naval Ensign of Russia.svg Russian Empire
NameStandart
NamesakeEmperor's Naval Standard
Owner Imperial Russian Navy
Ordered19 June 1893
Builder Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen, Denmark
Yard number183
Laid down1 October 1893
Launched10 March 1895
CommissionedSeptember 1896
Decommissioned1918
Naval Ensign of the Soviet Union (1950-1991).svg Soviet Union
NameMarti
Owner Soviet Navy
Reinstated1936 (as minelayer)
FateScrapped, 1963
General characteristics (as royal yacht)
Displacement5557 tons standard
Length128 m (420 ft)
Beam15.8 m (52 ft)
Draught6.00 m (19 ft 8 in)
Propulsion2 Triple Expansion Steam Engines
Speed21.18 knots
Complement355
Armament8 – 47 mm (1.9 in) guns (Hotchkiss)
General characteristics (as Marti)
Displacement5665 tons standard, 6198 tons deep load
Length122.30 m (401 ft 3 in)
Beam14.4 m (47 ft 3 in)
Draught6.80 m (22 ft 4 in)
Propulsion2 shaft, 2 Triple Expansion Steam Engines, 4 boilers
Speed18,85 knots
Complement400
Armament

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.

Contents

History

Imperial yacht

The 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.

Standart in 1909 Standart (ship, 1895).jpg
Standart in 1909

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]

In 1912, Emperors Nicholas II of Russia and Wilhelm II of Germany met on the yacht at Paldiski naval harbour for negotiations. With the outbreak of World War I, Standart was placed in drydock.

Soviet minelayer Marti

Minelayer Marti in 1942 Marti1942.jpg
Minelayer Marti in 1942

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

Previous imperial yachts

Notes

  1. ↑ Pleshakov, Constantine (2002). The Tsar's Last Armada. Oxford: Basic Books. p. 85. ISBN   1-903985-31-5.
  2. ↑ 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

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Standart (ship, 1895) at Wikimedia Commons

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