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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. 

Nicholas II

Emperor tsar saint, exhibition: imperial yacht standart and the family of the last russian emperor.

Posted on December 15, 2019 by Paul Gilbert

NOTE: All of the articles pertaining to Nicholas II and his family which were originally published in my Royal Russia News blog, have been moved to this Nicholas II blog. This article was originally posted on 15 February 2018 in my Royal Russia News blog – PG

The following exhibition ran from 26 January to 4 April 2018

The exhibition Imperial Yacht Standart and the Family of the Last Russian Emperor , opened on 26 January at the Central House of Artists in Moscow. The exhibition is based on memories and original photographs from the personal archive of Captain 2nd Rank Nikolai Pavlovich Sablin (1880-1937), who served on the Imperial yacht Standart from 1906 to 1914.

A significant part of these historic images were photographed by the co-owner of the photographic studio “K. E. von Gan and Co., the famous Russian photographer AK Yagelsky, who had the title of Court photographer of His Imperial Majesty. Yagelsky also owned the right to conduct filming of the imperial family. The exposition includes photographs of the photographic studio K. E. Von Gan and Co., as well as unique newsreel footage taken on board the imperial yacht. In addition to the photographs, original letters of Emperor Nicholas II written on board the ship, watercolours and a collection of postcards dedicated to the Imperial yacht, a yacht logbook and a number of other unique documents will be on display.

The photos taken on board the yacht Standart are not widely known to the general public and are associated with the inner life of the royal family, moments not intended for an outsider’s eye and therefore very sincere and direct.

The exhibition was first shown at the State Museum and Exhibition Center ROSPHOTO in St. Petersburg, from 2 August to 24 September 2017 and in Smolensk from 18 October to 15 December 2017. Click on the VIDEO above to view highlights from the St. Petersburg venue.

The exhibition Imperial Yacht Standart and the Family of the Last Russian Emperor , runs until 4th April 2018, at the Central House of Artists in Moscow.

Click HERE to visit the ROSPHOTO site for more information and photographs of the Imperial Yacht Standart – in Russian only.

© Paul Gilbert. 15 December 2019

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Alexander Palace Time Machine

The home of the last tsar - romanov and russian history, imperial yacht standardt - big view of the yacht, from a 1896 british magazine.

Not the best quality, but a valuable view from 1896. Here's the text from the article, the magazine is unidentified:

THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL YACHT " STANDART."

We give this week, on pages 175, l78, and 183 some further illustrations of the fine yacht built by Messrs. Burmeister and Wain, of Copenhagen, for the Czar of Russia, and of which we published other drawings, together with a description, in our issue of January 28 last. The graceful appearance of the boat is well shown by Fig. 18, page 183, which represents the Standart at anchor. As will be seen from this engraving, she is rigged as a three-masted fore-and-aft schooner. The great size of the funnels, which is a necessary accom paniment of the great  boiler power fitted, makes the boat, perhaps, appear rather smaller than she actually is; but the steam launch shown in the foreground serves to correct this impression, and to convey a truer idea of her real proportions, her displacement being 5255 tons. We have already published illustrations of the Emperor's deck cabin and sitting-room, the dining saloon, and the upper deck; we now add (Figs. 14 to 17, page 175) views of the sitting-rooms provided for the Empress and Dowager-Empress, of the church, and of the officers' mess. The engines are shown in Fig. 10, page 178. They are of the twin-screw triple-expan sion type, with cylinders 41 1/8 in., 65 1/8 in., and 105 1/8 in. in diameter by 54 in. stroke. The low-pressure cy linders are fitted with double-ported Trick slide valves, balanced by means of relief rings at the hack; whilst the high-pressure and intermediate cylinders have piston valves. In the case of the latter cylinder the valves are double, both spindles, however, being con nected to a single crosshead. Steam reversing and turning gears are provided, the former having an all round motion. The engines take their steam at a pres sure of 165lbs per square inch from a battery of 24 Belleville boilers working at a pressure of 245 lb. per square inch, the steam being passed through reducing valves before reaching the engine stop-valves. The crankshaft is hollow, the external diameter being 171 in. and 18 in., and internal diameter 8 in.  The main condensers are cast in one with the hack columns of the low-pressure and intermediate cylinders, the circulating water heing supplied by means of two independently-driven centrifugal pumps.  On trial the engines have given an average of 12,000 horse-power for a period of 12 hours, the corresponding speed on the run being 21.5 knots.

Palace Tour

Gala parade halls.

• Small Library - Dining Room
• Large Library
• Palace Chapel
• Billiard Hall
• Semi-Circular Hall
• Marble - Mountain Hall
• Portrait Hall

Restoration of the Palace

• 2012 Update Facade Looks Fantastic!

Rooms of Nicholas II

• The New Study
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The Children's Floor

• Aleksey's Bedroom
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• The Maid's Rooms

Rooms of the Right Wing

• Alexandra Memorial Chapel
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• Study of Alexander III

Palace Park

• Children's Island
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The Imperial Garage

• The Imperial Automobile Sport Club of Tsarskoe Selo
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Imperial Dining

• Alexandra's Names Day - 1897
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Plans, Maps and Churches

• Designs for the Alexander Palace by Quarenghi
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• Our Lady of the Sign Church in Tsarskoe Selo
• Palace Floor Plan
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Imperial Yacht Standardt

• Big View of the Yacht
• Chapel on the Yacht
• Dowager Empress's Room
• Empress's Drawing Room
• Officer's Mess
• Standardt Engines

Pallasart Web Design - Austin Texas Web Designers

Learn more about the history of Pallasart Web Design - Creating Innovative Website Designs since 1996

Image Gallery of Mosaics in Hagia Sophia

Here's s page of wonderful images of the great mosaic icon of Christ in the upper gallery of Hagia Sophia - otherwise known as Saint Sophia.

Palace Zooms