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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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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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Category: Standart (ship, 1895)
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Media in category " Standart (ship, 1895)"The following 23 files are in this category, out of 23 total. 
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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.
A rare photograph of the two former Imperial Yachts, 'Polar Star / Полярная звезда'¹ (left) and 'Standart / Штандарт'¹ (right) together in dry-dock in Helsingors (Helsinki) in early April, 1918. With the outbreak of World War I, both yachts were placed in dry-dock. They left Helsingfors for Kronstadt, only days before the Germans attacked.
Here I present an album of early 20th century photographs of the Russian Imperial Yacht "Standart". Music - "Variation No 4." by Risky-Korskov.The vessel se...
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 ...
The yacht was used as a veritable floating palace both at official state-business and for private vacations and travel. In June 1908, King Edward VII and Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia met in the Bay of Reval, now Tallinn, the state-banquet was held onboard. The Russian Imperial Family was on vacation on the Standart during the summer of 1914.
Imperial Russian yacht Shtandart (1893-1961), off the coast of the Crimea, near Yalta, in 1898. ... The 'Polar Star' appeared in the Royal family earlier than the 'Standart', in 1888 ...
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 ...
Russian imperial yacht "Standart" - 1905 ca.jpg 6,093 × 1,771; 3.01 MB Russian yacht Standart in Helsinki, April 1918.jpg 3,543 × 2,275; 1.95 MB Russian yachts Polyarnaya Zvezda and Standart in Helsinki, April 1918.jpg 3,543 × 2,527; 1.87 MB
The Standart . Russian Imperial Yacht, Standart. ... The plans had been preserved in 1895 by the Admiralty Office when plans for a new British royal yacht were under construction. The Standart was a superb, black-hulled 5557-ton yacht measuring 401' in length and 50' wide, ...
Photograph of the Russian Imperial Yacht Standart in the Bay of Reval. Naval officers can be seen standing on the deck to the right and there is a tug boat by its side. In June 1908 King Edward VII and Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia met in the Bay of Reval, now Tallinn. As well as a family gathering the meeting served an important diplomatic purpose in the aftermath of the 1907 Anglo-Russian ...