Fairy tales

Yacht Livadia. The sunken royal yacht “Livadia” was found off the coast of Tarkhankut. General view of the yacht Livadia at the pier

Black Sea wheeled imperial yacht. The only one who directly participated in the hostilities and the only one who died in a shipwreck.

In the summer of 1825, Emperor Alexander I acquired the Oreanda estate not far from Yalta. Architect A. I. Stackenschneider built a magnificent palace there, completed in the spring of 1852. In the autumn of the same year, Nicholas I, with the Empress and younger children, rested in this palace for the only time, spending about a month and a half in it. Naturally, the question arose about transporting the “August” family to the new building.
Since at that time there were no royal yachts on the Black Sea, an 18-oar boat, specially built there back in 1840, armed with one small carronade for fireworks, was delivered from Nikolaev. In 1860, Oreanda came into the possession of the Grand Duke, Admiral General Konstantin Nikolaevich. He ordered the construction of a small wheeled 4-gun steamer for the imperial family's voyages across the Black Sea, which became the first Black Sea royal yacht. The wooden steamship "Tiger" with the sailing rig of a three-masted barquentine was built at the Nikolaev Admiralty in 1855-1858. Although the “Tiger” was listed as part of the Black Sea Fleet for 14 years (until 1872), almost no information has been preserved about the voyages on it of the royal family, except for the mention of the transition in August 1861 of Alexander II and his family from Sevastopol to their new estate Livadia, from 1866 years, which became the favorite residence of Russian emperors in Crimea. Since the imperial family’s trips to the Black Sea coast began to acquire a certain regularity, it became necessary to replace the old “Tiger” with a new comfortable yacht “for service off the coast of Crimea.” Previously, in 1868, the issue of purchasing a steamship in England and “turning into a yacht for the Emperor” was considered, but then a decision was made to build a yacht in the Nikolaev Admiralty. Construction of the yacht, named "Livadia", began at the end of 1869, but the official keel of the vessel took place on March 19, 1870.

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Livadia's three-year service ended tragically. On the way from Sevastopol to Odessa, on a foggy night from October 21 to 22, 1878, she jumped onto a reef near the Tar-Khankut lighthouse on the western coast of Crimea. For 47 days, from October 22 to December 7, “Livadia” stood on the rocks. After a number of unsuccessful attempts by the command of the Black Sea Fleet to save the ship, everything valuable that was possible was taken ashore, leaving the hull to the sea waves.
It was supposed to build a new one, similar to the one that died, increasing its speed and cruising range, but Vice Admiral A. A. Popov, who by that time had become the chairman of the MTK, put forward another option. On his instructions, E. E. Gulyaev developed a design for a yacht with an elliptical plan on the base of Novgorod. Considering this form to be the initial one for choosing the type of future Black Sea battleship, Andrei Aleksandrovich decided on a full-scale experiment. Experts understood this not only in Russia, but also in England. Thus, The Times wrote in 1879: “... stability and comfort are the main qualities that were pursued in the design of the yacht, and if maximum stability is ensured in a yacht by a certain form, then the addition of armor and possible changes can make it, on the basis of the same principle, no less stable artillery platform. It’s no secret that a new yacht is experience...”
In addition to ensuring stability, comfort and safety of navigation, the main design attention was paid to achieving a speed of 14 knots for the new vessel. Based on the results of experiments on the Vice-Admiral Popov in the Black Sea and tests of the model in England, the main dimensions of the future yacht were determined with a draft of 1.9 m, satisfying all the proposed requirements. To verify the data obtained, at the request of both the designers and future builders, paraffin models of her hull were subjected to new tests in Amsterdam at the beginning of 1879 under the leadership of Tiedemann. This very famous shipbuilder and chief engineer of the Dutch fleet confirmed Froude's conclusions and guaranteed that the ship would reach a speed of 14 knots, with a power plant power of more than 8,500 hp. With. (in the project the power was assumed to be 10,000-11,000 hp).

The design of the lower hull of the yacht (sailors called it “pancake”) was unique. Developed taking into account the construction experience of Novgorod, it provided an unprecedented level of unsinkability for that time. The second bottom extended the entire length, spaced from the casing to a height of 1.07 m at the midships and 0.76 m at the ends and divided into 40 waterproof compartments; There were two longitudinal vertical bulkheads along the entire side, the space between which and the side was also divided by transverse bulkheads into 40 compartments. Covered with a convex, in the shape of an inverted saucer, deck, the pontoon served as a strong ring-shaped base for the upper part of the yacht, where all the living quarters and royal apartments were located, and the second bottom served as the foundation for three vertical double-expansion steam engines with a design capacity of 3500 hp. With. each and 10 cylindrical boilers. The pontoon accommodated coal pits, auxiliary mechanisms and ship supplies...
Significant difficulties had to be overcome in determining the general and local strength of the steel structures of the pontoon and the junction of the hulls (ring stringer), which, in turn, gave rise to technical problems in ensuring them. To the credit of Russian and British engineers, these difficulties were largely overcome. The entire set was made of soft “Siemenson” steel, the plating of the pontoon and bulkheads were made of iron sheets; the decks and cladding of the yacht itself are made of pine. The total height from the keels to the roof of the upper superstructures was 14 m. Special attention was paid to the issue of applying the driving force. During construction, by the end of 1879, a self-propelled steel model of the yacht on a scale of 1:10 was assembled and tested until the spring of next year, on which the location of the propellers, their pitch and dimensions were worked out. The test methodology was developed by Tiedeman, and the experiments were carried out by both Russian and English engineers. As a result, the deadwood shafts of the yacht were placed in such a way that the propellers for the most part of their diameter were below the bottom, while the middle propeller, as on Vice Admiral Popov, was placed 0.76 m further from the stern and deeper than the side ones. The diameter of each four-bladed propeller was 4.72 m, the pitch of the middle one was 3.81 m, the rest was 6.25 m; The material was manganese bronze.

The premises were illuminated by electric “Yablochkov candles”; All electrical equipment was supplied from Russia. There was running water throughout the yacht and 23 auxiliary steam mechanisms, including a rudder drive. On the bridge, similar to popovkas, they installed a device for maneuvering the direction of movement of the vessel using onboard machines. As raid watercraft, yachts in England ordered 3 large mahogany steam boats, respectively 11.9, 9.8 and 8.5 m long. The rowing ships were old, from the first Livadia. The total volume of cabins, salons and halls intended for the king and his retinue was 3950 m3 - 6.7 times greater than that on the lost yacht. The emperor's huge "reception room", about 4 m high, was reminiscent of the rooms of Louis XVI at Fontainebleau; there was also a working fountain surrounded by a flower bed... The living room on the middle deck was furnished in the Crimean Tatar spirit, the rest of the rooms were decorated in a modern English style. The finishing of the officers' cabins and command premises was not included in the contracts and had to be done after the ship arrived in the Black Sea.
Despite the “absolutely original design,” the vessel looked great externally, the smooth hull was covered with shiny black varnish, and the light gray pontoon almost merged with the water surface.
It took almost three months to complete the construction of the yacht afloat. In August, all the boilers were loaded (8 identical three-furnace boilers were installed across the pontoon, and two half-boilers were installed behind them on the sides), and at the beginning of September, the main engines were loaded, which were tested on mooring lines from the 10th to the 19th of the same month. The most experienced fleet mechanical engineers, Major Generals A.I. Sokolov and I.I. Zarubin, who were called to England in the summer, took part in this work.
On September 24, the Livadia, led by the builder Pearce and the factory crew, left the shipyard basin and, under the middle engine, passed down the river to Greenock; just in case, she was supported by three tugs. On the same day, the yacht entered the bay, easily reaching 12 knots.
Chief consultant Tiedeman noted that the ship stayed on course well and obeyed the helm like a boat. The next day, factory tests took place. Several Russian officers and 12 sailors from the crew assigned to the yacht were invited to the ship. According to A.I. Sokolov, it was possible to reach a speed of 15 knots, and with a headwind!
On the 26th, Pierce invited a Navy Ministry commission chaired by Vice Admiral I.F. Likhachev on board for an official six-hour trial. "Livadia" showed an average speed of 14.88 knots. with a power of 10200l. With.; the machines, due to the difference in propeller pitch, operated at different speeds: average 90, onboard 84 rpm. The same Tiedeman noted that when all three machines were operating, the circulation radius was “somewhat large,” but recognized this as insignificant, since it was possible to turn “in a much smaller space” using side screws - like on popovkas. On September 27, the yacht was tested at a measured mile: according to the average data of six runs, its highest speed turned out to be 15.725 knots, and the power of the power plant was 12,354 hp. With. And this despite the fact that the ship’s hull grew somewhat overgrown during completion and sat deeper than expected due to the heavier superstructure and interior decoration than expected. The draft reached 2.1 m, and the displacement was 4420 tons.

Calculations and experiments were brilliantly confirmed. Everyone was happy. The company received 2.7 million rubles, including 414 thousand rubles in bonuses. They wrote about A. A. Popov and E. V. Gulyaev in all European newspapers.
Upon completion of the tests, the Russian team, which arrived in August from the Baltic Fleet, took over the yacht (it exceeded the staff and consisted of 24 officers and 321 lower ranks). On September 30, the yacht was accepted from the factory and on the same day, having raised the flag, jack and pennant, she began the campaign.
The passage to the Black Sea was also planned as a training voyage “with only such development of the power of the machines,” A. A. Popov reported back in August, “to give the entire engine personnel the opportunity to calmly look around and become thoroughly familiar with the operation and control of the machines.” After preparations, on October 3 the yacht left the Greenock roadstead. On board, as guests of honor, were the shipbuilders Pierce, Tiedeman and Reed, as well as the controller of the English fleet, Admiral Steward. In Brest, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich boarded the ship and, under the Admiral General's flag, the Livadia set off on October 7, across the Bay of Biscay to Cadiz.
Until midnight on October 8, the voyage took place in favorable conditions, at a speed of 12-13 knots. The wind that rose at night quickly strengthened, creating a strong oncoming swell. From two o'clock in the morning on October 9, waves began to hit the bow of the yacht's pontoon - at first rare, these hits became more frequent as the wind and wave height increased. The speed had to be reduced to 4-5 knots, but the blows did not stop. Reed, who was very restrained in his assessments, wrote: “the impacts of the waves on the flat bottom of the yacht were terrible at times...” I. K. Vogak also reported the same thing in his report: “... one of them was especially strong, making an impression on everyone as if from a blow about a solid object...” At 10 o’clock in the morning it was discovered that the first double-bottom compartment was filled with water; I urgently had to change course and head to the Spanish port of Ferrol.
According to eyewitnesses, the height of the waves reached 6-7 m, while the roll did not exceed 3.5° on board, and pitching - 9° with a swing of 5.5° at the bow and 3.5° at the stern. The screws were never exposed. “Nothing fell on the yacht,” the commander reported: the table setting and tall candelabra remained motionless as if in a calm, neither the soup in the plates nor the water in the glasses was ever spilled.

The only yacht that took part in hostilities and sank in a shipwreck was the Black Sea wheeled imperial "Livadia".
Its construction began at the end of 1869, but the official laying of the ship took place on March 19, 1870.

The yacht was designed and built by the famous Black Sea shipbuilder, Captain of the Corps of Naval Engineers L. G. Shwede, who completed the work by the summer of 1873. The new 4-gun wooden wheeled yacht was not inferior in comfort and decoration of the royal premises to the Baltic “Derzhava”, and in the design of the “royal cabin” in the aft part of the yacht and the dining room on the middle deck, designed by the architect Monighetti, it even surpassed the latter. During the construction of the Livadia, L. G. Shwede in 1872 made a drawing of the supposed bow decoration of the yacht in the form of an oval convex shield with the image of a double-headed eagle. Livadia received a bow decoration in the form of a double-headed eagle crowned with a crown, similar to that installed on the Derzhava.
In the summer of 1873, the new yacht, having become part of the Black Sea Fleet, arrived in Sevastopol, from where it delivered the Empress and her family to Yalta. In March 1874, "Livadia" went on a practical voyage. In the western part of the Mediterranean Sea, the yacht successfully withstood a force 11 storm, showing excellent seaworthiness. It should be noted that Livadia is the only imperial yacht that took part in the hostilities of the Russian fleet. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, under the command of Captain 1st Rank F.E. Krone, she cruised off the Romanian and Bulgarian coasts and sank a Turkish two-masted cockpit on August 21. Spotted by two Turkish armored ships, the yacht withstood an 18-hour chase and safely went under the protection of Sevastopol batteries. Livadia's three-year service ended tragically. On the way from Sevastopol to Odessa, on a foggy night from October 21 to 22, 1878, she jumped onto a reef near the Tar-Khankut lighthouse on the western coast of Crimea. For 47 days, from October 22 to December 7, “Livadia” stood on the rocks. After a number of unsuccessful attempts by the command of the Black Sea Fleet to save the ship, everything valuable that was possible was taken ashore, leaving the hull exposed to the sea waves.
It was supposed to build a new one, similar to the one that died, increasing its speed and cruising range, but Vice Admiral A. A. Popov, who by that time had become the chairman of the MTK, put forward another option. On his instructions, E. E. Gulyaev developed a design for a yacht with an elliptical plan on the base of Novgorod. Considering this form to be the initial one for choosing the type of future Black Sea battleship, Andrei Aleksandrovich decided on a full-scale experiment. Experts understood this not only in Russia, but also in England. Thus, The Times wrote in 1879: “... stability and comfort are the main qualities that were pursued in the design of the yacht, and if maximum stability is ensured in a yacht by a certain form, then the addition of armor and possible changes can make it, based on the same principle, no less stable artillery platform. It’s no secret that a new yacht is an experience...”
In addition to ensuring stability, comfort and safety of navigation, the main design attention was paid to achieving a speed of 14 knots for the new vessel. Based on the results of experiments on the Vice-Admiral Popov in the Black Sea and tests of the model in England, the main dimensions of the future yacht were determined with a draft of 1.9 m, satisfying all the proposed requirements. To verify the data obtained, at the request of both the designers and future builders, paraffin models of her hull were subjected to new tests in Amsterdam at the beginning of 1879 under the leadership of Tiedemann. This very famous shipbuilder and chief engineer of the Dutch fleet confirmed Froude's conclusions and guaranteed that the ship would reach a speed of 14 knots, with a power plant power of more than 8,500 hp. With. (in the project the power was assumed to be 10,000-11,000 hp). General layout of the imperial screw yacht "Livadia"

In the middle of the year, agreed upon with the English shipbuilding company John Elder and Co., the project was finally prepared. In August, after a written assurance from the chief builder of the company, Pierce, about the possibility of creating such a vessel, Alexander II received personal permission to build a new yacht in England. On September 5, Pierce and the famous Russian shipbuilding figure M.I. Kazi signed a contract. The terms of this document were not entirely ordinary. Their essence was the obligation of the shipbuilders not only to build the ship itself according to Russian drawings, with the installation of their own steam mechanisms on it, but also to guarantee that the yacht would reach a speed of 15 knots. For every undeveloped 0.1 knot, the company paid large fines, and if the ship sailed at a speed of less than 14 knots, the customer had the right not to accept it at all, but to take only the power plant, for which he was obliged to make contractual payments in the process the buildings. If the tests were successful, payment for the yacht followed after its delivery. For exceeding the speed (15 knots) and power (12,000 hp) limits, builders received significant bonuses. The last condition was supposed to encourage the company to create advanced power plants intended not only for the yacht, but also, if successful, for future Russian ships and the battleship Peter the Great, whose vehicles, like those of the Novgorod series, did not develop their designed power.
The construction period was short in English: until July 1 of the following year, 1880. Moreover, during a personal audience with Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich after signing the contract, Pierce offered early delivery of the yacht! Work at the shipyard, located in Ferrol (on the River Clyde, on the outskirts of Glasgow), began immediately after the signing of the documents. Appointed to supervise the construction, the author of the project, E. E. Gulyaev, reported a month later on the production of templates for metal structures and the complete preparation of the slipway. By the beginning of November, two-thirds of the second bottom set had already been riveted together... Then A. A. Popov intervened again, obtaining the highest permission to finish the yacht’s premises in England, citing “the desirability of testing the vessel in its finished form” and the high cost of such work in the Nikolaev Admiralty. On November 10, another contract was concluded: the shipbuilders received, in addition to the additional payment, a real opportunity to postpone, if necessary, the yacht’s readiness date. Nevertheless, work continued according to initial calculations.
On January 5, 1880, the yacht was included in the list of ships of the fleet under the name "Livadia", and 10 days later received a commander - Captain 1st Rank I.K. Vogak (who was the first commander of both the Novgorod and Peter the Great)... On March 25, the official laying of the vessel took place; At this time, the hull casing was already being installed. Exactly four months later, on June 25, the yacht was launched. The ceremony was attended by Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich (future admiral general of the Russian fleet and consistent ill-wisher of A. A. Popov).

Yacht Livadia in dock

"Livadia", launched to a fairly high degree of readiness, with superstructures and a propeller-rudder complex, had such an original appearance that the English "Time", which traditionally did not include drawings of even domestic ships on its pages, made an exception for the yacht. This double-hulled vessel was figuratively described by newspapermen as “a bull on a halibut.” Indeed, the yacht itself (upper hull) was a vessel cut off along the waterline with a length of 79.25 m and a width of 33.53 m, installed on a semi-submerged pontoon (lower hull), which had an elliptical shape in plan, with a length of 71.63 m and a maximum width 46.63 m. Its height at the midsection did not exceed 5.49 m, the bottom was flat, with three keels: the middle one in the center plane and the side ones, each of which was 5.49 m from the middle one. According to E.E. Gulyaev “... the yacht could be slightly longer... and narrower to suit the taste of the majority...”, but this would lead to the need to increase the power of the machines and reduce stability. The shallow draft was defined by the designer as an “outstanding feature” that made it possible to reduce wave drag, which, according to Froude’s definition, was the most significant in wide ships, such as the Novgorod, at high speeds. From this it is clear that the design of two parts-hulls was used purely out of a desire to reduce the draft of the yacht as much as possible in order to achieve a given speed. In this form, the combination of the named features of the Livadia design really proves the complete originality of the ideas of its creators.

Imperial yacht "Livadia" on the slipway

The design of the lower hull of the yacht (sailors called it “pancake”) was unique. Developed taking into account the construction experience of Novgorod, it provided an unprecedented level of unsinkability for that time. The second bottom extended the entire length, spaced from the casing to a height of 1.07 m at the midships and 0.76 m at the ends and divided into 40 waterproof compartments; There were two longitudinal vertical bulkheads along the entire side, the space between which and the side was also divided by transverse bulkheads into 40 compartments. Covered with a convex, in the shape of an inverted saucer, deck, the pontoon served as a strong ring-shaped base for the upper part of the yacht, where all the living quarters and royal apartments were located, and the second bottom served as the foundation for three vertical double-expansion steam engines with a design capacity of 3500 hp. With. each and 10 cylindrical boilers. The pontoon accommodated coal pits, auxiliary mechanisms and ship supplies...

Imperial screw yacht "Livadia" after launching

Significant difficulties had to be overcome in determining the general and local strength of the steel structures of the pontoon and the junction of the hulls (ring stringer), which, in turn, gave rise to technical problems in ensuring them. To the credit of Russian and British engineers, these difficulties were largely overcome. The entire set was made of soft “Siemenson” steel, the plating of the pontoon and bulkheads were made of iron sheets; the decks and cladding of the yacht itself are made of pine. The total height from the keels to the roof of the upper superstructures was 14 m. Special attention was paid to the issue of applying the driving force. During construction, by the end of 1879, a self-propelled steel model of the yacht on a scale of 1:10 was assembled and tested until the spring of next year, on which the location of the propellers, their pitch and dimensions were worked out. The test methodology was developed by Tiedeman, and the experiments were carried out by both Russian and English engineers. As a result, the deadwood shafts of the yacht were placed in such a way that the propellers for the most part of their diameter were below the bottom, while the middle propeller, as on Vice Admiral Popov, was placed 0.76 m further from the stern and deeper than the side ones. The diameter of each four-bladed propeller was 4.72 m, the pitch of the middle one was 3.81 m, the rest was 6.25 m; The material was manganese bronze.

Imperial yacht "Livadia" in Naples. May 1881

The premises were illuminated by electric “Yablochkov candles”; All electrical equipment was supplied from Russia. There was running water throughout the yacht and 23 auxiliary steam mechanisms, including a rudder drive. On the bridge, similar to popovkas, they installed a device for maneuvering the direction of movement of the vessel using onboard machines. As raid watercraft, yachts in England ordered 3 large mahogany steam boats, respectively 11.9, 9.8 and 8.5 m long. The rowing ships were old, from the first Livadia. The total volume of cabins, salons and halls intended for the king and his retinue was 3950 m3 - 6.7 times greater than that on the lost yacht. The emperor's huge "reception room", about 4 m high, was reminiscent of the rooms of Louis XVI at Fontainebleau; there was also a working fountain surrounded by a flower bed... The living room on the middle deck was furnished in the Crimean Tatar spirit, the rest of the rooms were decorated in a modern English style. The finishing of the officers' cabins and command premises was not included in the contracts and had to be done after the ship arrived in the Black Sea.

General view of the yacht Livadia at the pier

Despite the “absolutely original design,” the vessel looked great externally, the smooth hull was covered with shiny black varnish, and the light gray pontoon almost merged with the water surface.
It took almost three months to complete the construction of the yacht afloat. In August, all the boilers were loaded (8 identical three-furnace boilers were installed across the pontoon, and two half-boilers were installed behind them on the sides), and at the beginning of September, the main engines were loaded, which were tested on mooring lines from the 10th to the 19th of the same month. The most experienced fleet mechanical engineers, Major Generals A.I. Sokolov and I.I. Zarubin, who were called to England in the summer, took part in this work.
On September 24, the Livadia, led by the builder Pearce and the factory crew, left the shipyard basin and, under the middle engine, passed down the river to Greenock; just in case, she was supported by three tugs. On the same day, the yacht entered the bay, easily reaching 12 knots.

General view of the dining room

Living room corner

On the 26th, Pierce invited a Navy Ministry commission chaired by Vice Admiral I.F. Likhachev on board for an official six-hour trial. "Livadia" showed an average speed of 14.88 knots. with a power of 10200l. With.; the machines, due to the difference in propeller pitch, operated at different speeds: average 90, onboard 84 rpm. The same Tiedeman noted that when all three machines were operating, the circulation radius was “somewhat large,” but recognized this as insignificant, since it was possible to turn “in a much smaller space” using side screws - like on popovkas. On September 27, the yacht was tested at a measured mile: according to the average data of six runs, its highest speed turned out to be 15.725 knots, and the power of the power plant was 12,354 hp. With. And this despite the fact that the ship’s hull grew somewhat overgrown during completion and sat deeper than expected due to the heavier superstructure and interior decoration than expected. The draft reached 2.1 m, and the displacement was 4420 tons.

Boudoir table in one of the rooms

Corner of one of the living rooms (smoking room),

The passage to the Black Sea was also planned as a training voyage “with only such development of the power of the machines,” A. A. Popov reported back in August, “to give the entire engine personnel the opportunity to calmly look around and become thoroughly familiar with the operation and control of the machines.” After preparations, on October 3 the yacht left the Greenock roadstead. On board, as guests of honor, were the shipbuilders Pierce, Tiedeman and Reed, as well as the controller of the English fleet, Admiral Steward. In Brest, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich boarded the ship and, under the Admiral General's flag, the Livadia set off on October 7, across the Bay of Biscay to Cadiz.

View of part of the cabinet

Until midnight on October 8, the voyage took place in favorable conditions, at a speed of 12-13 knots. The wind that rose at night quickly strengthened, creating a strong oncoming swell. From two o'clock in the morning on October 9, waves began to hit the bow of the yacht's pontoon - at first rare, these hits became more frequent as the wind and wave height increased. The speed had to be reduced to 4-5 knots, but the blows did not stop. Reed, who was very restrained in his assessments, wrote: “the impacts of the waves on the flat bottom of the yacht were terrible at times...” I. K. Vogak also reported the same thing in his report: “... one of them was especially strong, affecting everyone the impression is like hitting a hard object...” At 10 o’clock in the morning it was discovered that the first double-bottom compartment was filled with water; I urgently had to change course and head to the Spanish port of Ferrol.
According to eyewitnesses, the height of the waves reached 6-7 m, while the roll did not exceed 3.5° on board, and pitching - 9° with a swing of 5.5° at the bow and 3.5° at the stern. The screws were never exposed. “Nothing fell on the yacht,” the commander reported: the table setting and tall candelabra remained motionless as if in a calm, neither the soup in the plates nor the water in the glasses was ever spilled.

View of one of the bedrooms

View of part of the boudoir

In Ferrol Bay, divers found in the bow of the pontoon, on the left side, a 5-meter dent with tears and cracks in the skin sheets, bent and broken frames. Five side compartments and one double bottom compartment were flooded. Initially, the cause of the damage was considered to be a collision with floating debris, about which a message was sent to the Government Gazette, but after a thorough examination, both Russian and foreign experts came to the unanimous opinion that the damage was caused by wave impacts! The repairs had to be carried out afloat by a team led by the ship's mechanical engineers: not a single European dock could accommodate the Livadia, and Standfilsky at that time was only being equipped in Sevastopol to receive the yacht.
Only seven and a half months later, the corrected yacht left the Spanish port, continuing its journey on April 26, 1881. Now it was led by Vice Admiral I. A. Shestakov. They walked slowly and carefully, taking shelter from bad weather under the shore or in ports. On the morning of May 27, "Livadia" entered Sevastopol Bay. She covered 3,890 miles in 381 running hours, using more than 2,900 tons of coal. In a special note, I. A. Shestakov noted the ease of control of the yacht, the straightness of its course, comfort and lack of pitching. However, he stated that, regardless of the speed, even with a slight dead swell, “it twitched from the blows to the cheekbones of the pancake,” and with oncoming waves, “the blows to the bow were very noticeable,” while the superstructures “walked” (vibrated). Nevertheless, the admiral considered the well-made and carefully made yacht “worthy of existence,” but... after testing “under all circumstances of sea and weather.”

View of part of the cabinet

While its fate was being determined, Livadia made its only, as it turned out, voyage across the Black Sea. On May 29, under the flag of the chief commander of the Black Sea Fleet, she moved to Yalta and, having taken on board the Admiral General and his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, headed to Batum, from where she returned three days later. The passengers were not very lucky: the sea was stormy and the superstructures were shaking as waves hit the pontoon.
In mid-June, the yacht was raised at the Standfil dock, where it was inspected by members of the commission appointed by the new head of the maritime department, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich. Confirming the opinion that had formed back in Ferrol, the commission recognized that the damage to the yacht was caused by wave impacts and considered the design of the pontoon hull, especially in the bow, to be unsatisfactory for resisting these impacts. The Ministry of Transport and Communications agreed with these conclusions and ordered “for safe navigation” to replace all damaged parts with new ones with reinforcement at the bow end.
During the three weeks of docking, the underwater part of the pontoon was only cleared of shells and greenery, and then repainted. No repair work was carried out; only three strips were applied to the detected cracks in the sheathing sheets. By this time, the leadership of the ministry decided to conduct repeated sea trials of the yacht according to specially developed instructions.

View of part of the living room

From August 3 to August 12, "Livadia" covered the measured mile near Sevastopol 136 times. 312 charts were taken, and draft and trim were carefully maintained constant. Before testing the maximum speed, the yacht was prepared for several days, but it was not possible to achieve 15 knots speed. With the highest power developed by the machines (9837 hp), the average speed was 14.46 knots. Such an affront caused confusion in the ranks of the commission, and it came to the point of accusing the builders of deception. However, a member of the commission, Captain 2nd Rank G. A. Vlasyev, thoroughly proved the inaccuracy of the test instructions and the lack of skills of the machine crew in maintaining the full steam output of the boilers. MTK supported Vlasyev, noting, in addition, the low quality of the coal used. The manager of the Maritime Ministry, drawing attention to the difference in power values during tests in England and Russia, which reached 2500 hp. pp., irritably noted that such a fact “completely destroys all calculations and technical considerations when designing our new ships with a known task.”
On August 15, the yacht left for Nikolaev, where it soon “disarmed.” In September, her team was sent back to the Baltic, replacing the Black Sea. Property and furniture began to be slowly transported to port warehouses; in the press the ship was delicately referred to as a “former... yacht.” The official conclusion about the weakness of the design of the underwater part of the hull served as a death sentence for the new type of vessel. However, this “weakness” was only a consequence of the main drawback of the yacht: heavy impacts of the hull in waves, noted in all voyages, but manifested themselves with the greatest force in Biscay. It was this phenomenon, which later became known as “slamming,” that deprived the Livadia of its seaworthiness.
The inventor himself was one of the first to realize this. Back in May, responding to a note from Admiral I.A. Shestakov, he honestly admitted: “about this shortcoming... I can say positively that the small deepening of the yacht, which was determined by its limited displacement, constitutes a mistake that I did not foresee in such a situation.” the extent to which it affected practice...” A. A. Popov’s personal letter to the Admiral General said even more precisely: “the pitching of the yacht due to 1) a small depression 2) a flat bottom produces a phenomenon that is not found on other ships in the dimensions that the yacht’s design has... with a pitching pitching from angles of 3 1/4 ° and more aft, the bottom of the bow is exposed, which results in: a) complete destruction of the buoyancy of the bow compartments, which generates tension in the entire fastening system of the yacht’s hull; b) the impacts of the bottom on the waves... are so strong that both the convenience and safety of navigation are completely violated..."

View of part of the dining room

The era of experiments by Admiral A. A. Popov ended with the accession to the Russian throne of Alexander III, who for a long time had disliked Admiral General Konstantin Nikolaevich, and, accordingly, the leadership of the naval department and the “restless admiral” A. A. Popov , who, according to the emperor, was engaged in “rounding out domestic naval architecture.” The emperor immediately placed his brother at the head of the ministry. A. A. Popov was replaced by I. A. Shestakov, who became the next year, 1882, manager of the Maritime Ministry. But Andrei Alexandrovich continued to defend a new type of round vessel. According to E.E. Gulyaev, he even developed the “strongest unsinkable battleship” in the form of “Livadia”; the single-hull elliptical design with vertical sides housed 8,305 mm guns, the displacement was 11,250 tons, and the draft was 4.1 m. The new manager sarcastically noted in his diary: “... he’s bringing everything to his utopias with round ships and Standfil docks.. ."
Trying to save the yacht, A. A. Popov turned to the disgraced Konstantin Nikolaevich and I. A. Shestakov: “... the shortcoming for its special purpose does not amount to anything significant, because to eliminate the blows you can always change the course or even not at all go out to sea. She does not have to chase the enemy, she is not intended to cruise in the oceans, she does not need to be in hurricanes...” However, according to I. A. Shestakov, “The Emperor expressed his consent to deal with the yacht at all costs. Even when I said that a prison is needed in Sevastopol, I also expressed my readiness to give up Livadia.” As a result, it was not possible to carry out new sea trials in 1882, which could be useful for the design, in the future, of new power plants. Moreover, A. A. Popov was offered to cover the amount of bonuses issued to English builders from his personal funds, allegedly without the knowledge of the leadership of the ministry! Only after a four-year litigation did the treasury accept the “loss” upon itself.

Blokshiv "Experience" (former yacht "Livadia") in Sevastopol. In the foreground is the mine cruiser "Kazarsky"

In April 1883, the yacht turned into the steamship "Experience". The ship stood idle for several years: MTK intended to use it as a unique transport in terms of capacity, draft and speed for transporting troops and equipment; It was planned to leave the two side steam engines, and use the middle one on the new Baltic battleship. It was indeed removed, but installed on the cruiser "Minin" during its repair. At the end of the century, the remaining vehicles were also sent to the Baltic for the cruisers Admiral General and Duke of Edinburgh. When unloading the vehicles, some of the wooden superstructures were dismantled; the huge rooms on the upper deck disappeared in the mid-80s. The steamer turned into the block "Experience", used both as a barracks and as a warehouse... At the beginning of the 20th century, it was handed over to the Sevastopol port, but in 1913 it was again included in the lists of the fleet as "Blokshiv No. 7". It stood in Sevastopol until 1926, when it was finally decommissioned. Black Sea veterans recalled that they saw its unusual skeleton back in the late 30s.

Yesterday I saw this yacht "Livadia" in person on a magnificent model and really wanted to have my own exactly the same pontoon house.

Original taken from humus V Imperial yacht "Livadia"

Black Sea wheeled imperial yacht. The only imperial yacht that directly participated in the hostilities and the only yacht that died in a shipwreck.
In the summer of 1825, Emperor Alexander I acquired the Oreanda estate not far from Yalta. Architect A. I. Stackenschneider built a magnificent palace there, completed in the spring of 1852. In the autumn of the same year, Nicholas I, with the Empress and younger children, rested in this palace for the only time in their lives, spending about a month and a half in it. Naturally, the question arose about transporting the “most august” family to a new building.
Since at that time there were no royal yachts on the Black Sea, an 18-oar boat, specially built there back in 1840, armed with one small carronade for fireworks, was delivered from Nikolaev. In 1860, Oreanda came into the possession of the Grand Duke, Admiral General Konstantin Nikolaevich. He ordered the construction of a small wheeled 4-gun steamer for the imperial family's voyages across the Black Sea, which became the first Black Sea royal yacht. The wooden steamer "Tiger" with the sailing rig of a three-masted barquentine was built at the Nikolaev Admiralty in 1855-1858. Although the “Tiger” was listed as part of the Black Sea Fleet for 14 years (until 1872), almost no information has been preserved about the voyages on it of the royal family, except for the mention of the transition in August 1861 of Alexander II and his family from Sevastopol to their new estate Livadia, from 1866 years, which became the favorite residence of Russian emperors in Crimea. Since the imperial family’s trips to the Black Sea coast began to acquire a certain regularity, it became necessary to replace the old “Tiger” with a new comfortable yacht “for service off the coast of Crimea.” Previously, in 1868, the issue of purchasing a steamship in England and “turning into a yacht for the Emperor” was considered, but then a decision was made to build a yacht in the Nikolaev Admiralty. Construction of the yacht, named "Livadia", began at the end of 1869, but the official keel of the vessel took place on March 19, 1870.
The yacht was designed and built by the famous Black Sea shipbuilder, Captain of the Corps of Naval Engineers L. G. Shwede, who completed the work by the summer of 1873. The new 4-gun wooden wheeled yacht was not inferior in comfort and decoration of the royal premises to the Baltic “Derzhava”, and in the design of the “royal cabin” in the aft part of the yacht and the dining room on the middle deck, designed by the architect Monighetti, it even surpassed the latter. During the construction of the Livadia, L. G. Shwede in 1872 made a drawing of the supposed bow decoration of the yacht in the form of an oval convex shield with the image of a double-headed eagle. Livadia received a bow decoration in the form of a double-headed eagle crowned with a crown, similar to that installed on the Derzhava.
First steamImperialwheeled yacht "Livadia" after entering into service. 1873 There is also a two-decker here.

In the summer of 1873, the new yacht, having become part of the Black Sea Fleet, arrived in Sevastopol, from where it delivered the Empress and her family to Yalta.
In March 1874, "Livadia" went on a practical voyage. In the western part of the Mediterranean Sea, the yacht successfully withstood a force 11 storm, showing excellent seaworthiness. It should be noted that Livadia is the only imperial yacht that took part in the hostilities of the Russian fleet. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, under the command of Captain 1st Rank F.E. Krone, she cruised off the Romanian and Bulgarian coasts and sank a Turkish two-masted cockpit on August 21. Spotted by two Turkish armored ships, the yacht withstood an 18-hour chase and safely went under the protection of Sevastopol batteries.
Livadia's three-year service ended tragically. On the way from Sevastopol to Odessa, on a foggy night from October 21 to 22, 1878, she jumped onto a reef near the Tar-Khankut lighthouse on the western coast of Crimea. For 47 days, from October 22 to December 7, “Livadia” stood on the rocks. After a number of unsuccessful attempts by the command of the Black Sea Fleet to save the ship, everything valuable that was possible was taken ashore, leaving the hull to the sea waves.
It was supposed to build a new one, similar to the one that died, increasing its speed and cruising range, but Vice Admiral A. A. Popov, who by that time had become the chairman of the MTK, put forward another option. On his instructions, E. E. Gulyaev developed a design for a yacht with an elliptical plan on the base of Novgorod. Considering this form to be the initial one for choosing the type of future Black Sea battleship, Andrei Aleksandrovich decided on a full-scale experiment. Experts understood this not only in Russia, but also in England. Thus, The Times wrote in 1879: “... stability and comfort are the main qualities that were pursued in the design of the yacht, and if maximum stability is ensured in a yacht by a certain form, then the addition of armor and possible changes can make it, based on the same principle, no less stable artillery platform. It’s no secret that a new yacht is an experience...”
In addition to ensuring stability, comfort and safety of navigation, the main design attention was paid to achieving a speed of 14 knots for the new vessel. Based on the results of experiments on the Vice-Admiral Popov in the Black Sea and tests of the model in England, the main dimensions of the future yacht were determined with a draft of 1.9 m, satisfying all the proposed requirements. To verify the data obtained, at the request of both the designers and future builders, paraffin models of her hull were subjected to new tests in Amsterdam at the beginning of 1879 under the leadership of Tiedemann. This very famous shipbuilder and chief engineer of the Dutch fleet confirmed Froude's conclusions and guaranteed that the ship would reach a speed of 14 knots, with a power plant power of more than 8,500 hp. With. (in the project the power was assumed to be 10,000-11,000 hp).
General layout of the imperial screw yacht "Livadia"

Significant difficulties had to be overcome in determining the general and local strength of the steel structures of the pontoon and the junction of the hulls (ring stringer), which, in turn, gave rise to technical problems in ensuring them. To the credit of Russian and British engineers, these difficulties were largely overcome. The entire set was made of soft “Siemenson” steel, the plating of the pontoon and bulkheads were made of iron sheets; the decks and lining of the yacht itself are made of pine. The total height from the keels to the roof of the upper superstructures was 14 m. Special attention was paid to the issue of applying the driving force. During construction, by the end of 1879, a self-propelled steel model of the yacht on a scale of 1:10 was assembled and tested until the spring of next year, on which the location of the propellers, their pitch and dimensions were worked out. The test methodology was developed by Tiedeman, and the experiments were carried out by both Russian and English engineers. As a result, the deadwood shafts of the yacht were placed in such a way that the propellers for the most part of their diameter were below the bottom, while the middle propeller, as on Vice Admiral Popov, was placed 0.76 m further from the stern and deeper than the side ones. The diameter of each four-blade propeller was 4.72 m, the pitch of the middle one was 3.81 m, the rest was 6.25 m; The material was manganese bronze.
Imperial yacht "Livadia" in Naples. May 1881

General view of the yacht Livadia at the pier

General view of the dining room

Chief consultant Tiedeman noted that the ship stayed on course well and obeyed the helm like a boat. The next day, factory tests took place. Several Russian officers and 12 sailors from the crew assigned to the yacht were invited to the ship. According to A.I. Sokolov, it was possible to reach a speed of 15 knots, and with a headwind!
Living room corner

On the 26th, Pierce invited a Navy Ministry commission chaired by Vice Admiral I.F. Likhachev on board for an official six-hour trial. "Livadia" showed an average speed of 14.88 knots. with a power of 10200l. With.; the machines, due to the difference in propeller pitch, operated at different speeds: average 90, onboard 84 rpm. The same Tiedeman noted that when all three machines were operating, the circulation radius was “somewhat large,” but he recognized this as insignificant, since it was possible to turn “in a much smaller space” using side screws - like on popovkas. On September 27, the yacht was tested at a measured mile: according to the average data of six runs, its highest speed turned out to be 15.725 knots, and the power of the power plant was 12,354 hp. With. And this despite the fact that the ship’s hull grew somewhat overgrown during completion and sat deeper than expected due to the heavier superstructure and interior decoration than expected. The draft reached 2.1 m, and the displacement was 4420 tons.
Boudoir table in one of the rooms

Calculations and experiments were brilliantly confirmed. Everyone was happy. The company received 2.7 million rubles, including 414 thousand rubles in bonuses. They wrote about A. A. Popov and E. V. Gulyaev in all European newspapers.
Upon completion of the tests, the Russian team, which arrived in August from the Baltic Fleet, took over the yacht (it exceeded the staff and consisted of 24 officers and 321 lower ranks). On September 30, the yacht was accepted from the factory and on the same day, having raised the flag, jack and pennant, she began the campaign.
Corner of one of the living rooms (smoking room),

The transfer to the Black Sea was also planned as a training voyage “with only such development of the power of the machines,” A. A. Popov reported back in August, “to give the entire engine personnel the opportunity to calmly look around and become thoroughly familiar with the operation and control of the machines.” After preparations, on October 3 the yacht left the Greenock roadstead. On board, as guests of honor, were the shipbuilders Pierce, Tiedeman and Reed, as well as the controller of the English fleet, Admiral Steward. In Brest, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich boarded the ship and, under the Admiral General's flag, the Livadia set off on October 7, across the Bay of Biscay to Cadiz.
View of part of the cabinet

Until midnight on October 8, the voyage took place in favorable conditions, at a speed of 12-13 knots. The wind that rose at night quickly strengthened, creating a strong oncoming swell. From two o'clock in the morning on October 9, waves began to hit the bow of the yacht's pontoon - at first rare, these hits became more frequent as the wind and wave height increased. The speed had to be reduced to 4-5 knots, but the blows did not stop. Reed, who was very restrained in his assessments, wrote: “the impacts of the waves on the flat bottom of the yacht were terrible at times...” I. K. Vogak also reported the same thing in his report: “... one of them was especially strong, affecting everyone the impression is like hitting a hard object...” At 10 o’clock in the morning it was discovered that the first double-bottom compartment was filled with water; I urgently had to change course and head to the Spanish port of Ferrol.
According to eyewitnesses, the height of the waves reached 6-7 m, while the roll did not exceed 3.5° on board, and the pitch did not exceed 9° with a swing of 5.5° at the bow and 3.5° at the stern. The screws were never exposed. “Nothing fell on the yacht,” the commander reported: the table setting and tall candelabra remained motionless as if in a calm, neither the soup in the plates nor the water in the glasses was ever spilled.
View of one of the bedrooms

How did the Livadia, led by experienced sailors, end up in the very center of the storm, and even sail against the wave? This is all the more incomprehensible, since there were shipbuilders on board who hinted, even during the tests, that the yacht was good “in waves that are not too large.” As Captain 2nd Rank V.P. Verkhovsky, a member of the selection committee, noted, “the yacht was never intended for ocean navigation, and therefore the Black Sea is enough to judge its qualities... in any case, there is no reason to expose it even on the Black Sea to the daily effects of a heavy storm . The yacht will make the longest passage from Odessa to Poti easily in 30 or 35 hours, and of course there will be no extreme need to leave the port in the middle of a storm...”
Reed directly refers to the Admiral General, who, according to him, believed that the opportunity should not be missed “to make a thorough test of the yacht and therefore we headed into the very mouth of the Biscay storm.” Verkhovsky writes about the same thing, but more diplomatically: “there were those who wanted to meet... a good storm, they wanted us to be tossed, so that the wind and waves would be stronger... and without this... and a full judgment about the qualities of the yacht is impossible ...". Whether the leader of the campaign himself decided to undertake such a “test” or received help and advice remains unknown.
View of part of the boudoir

In Ferrol Bay, divers found in the bow of the pontoon, on the left side, a 5-meter dent with tears and cracks in the skin sheets, bent and broken frames. Five side compartments and one double bottom compartment were flooded. Initially, the cause of the damage was considered to be a collision with floating debris, which was reported to the Government Gazette, but after a thorough examination, both Russian and foreign experts came to the unanimous opinion that the damage was caused by wave impacts! The repairs had to be carried out afloat by a team led by the ship's mechanical engineers: not a single European dock could accommodate the Livadia, and Standfilsky at that time was only being equipped in Sevastopol to receive the yacht.
Only seven and a half months later, the corrected yacht left the Spanish port, continuing its journey on April 26, 1881. Now it was led by Vice Admiral I. A. Shestakov. They walked slowly and carefully, taking shelter from bad weather under the shore or in ports. On the morning of May 27, "Livadia" entered Sevastopol Bay. She covered 3,890 miles in 381 running hours, using more than 2,900 tons of coal. In a special note, I. A. Shestakov noted the ease of control of the yacht, the straightness of its course, comfort and lack of pitching. However, he stated that, regardless of the speed, even with a slight dead swell, “it twitched from the blows to the cheekbones of the pancake,” and with oncoming waves, “the blows to the bow were very noticeable,” while the superstructures “walked” (vibrated). Nevertheless, the admiral considered the well-made and carefully made yacht “worthy of existence,” but... after testing “under all circumstances of sea and weather.”
View of part of the cabinet

While its fate was being determined, Livadia made its only, as it turned out, voyage across the Black Sea. On May 29, under the flag of the chief commander of the Black Sea Fleet, she moved to Yalta and, having taken on board the Admiral General and his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, headed to Batum, from where she returned three days later. The passengers were not very lucky: the sea was stormy and the superstructures were shaking as waves hit the pontoon.
In mid-June, the yacht was raised at the Standfil dock, where it was inspected by members of the commission appointed by the new head of the maritime department, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich. Confirming the opinion that had formed back in Ferrol, the commission recognized that the damage to the yacht was caused by wave impacts and considered the design of the pontoon hull, especially in the bow, to be unsatisfactory for resisting these impacts. The Ministry of Transport and Communications agreed with these conclusions and ordered “for safe navigation” to replace all damaged parts with new ones with reinforcement at the bow end.
During the three weeks of docking, the underwater part of the pontoon was only cleared of shells and greenery, and then repainted. No repair work was carried out; only three strips were applied to the detected cracks in the sheathing sheets. By this time, the leadership of the ministry decided to conduct repeated sea trials of the yacht according to specially developed instructions.
View of part of the living room

From August 3 to August 12, "Livadia" covered the measured mile near Sevastopol 136 times. 312 charts were taken, and draft and trim were carefully maintained constant. Before testing the maximum speed, the yacht was prepared for several days, but it was not possible to achieve 15 knots speed. With the highest power developed by the machines (9837 hp), the average speed was 14.46 knots. Such an affront caused confusion in the ranks of the commission, and it came to the point of accusing the builders of deception. However, a member of the commission, Captain 2nd Rank G. A. Vlasyev, thoroughly proved the inaccuracy of the test instructions and the lack of skills of the machine crew in maintaining the full steam output of the boilers. MTK supported Vlasyev, noting, in addition, the low quality of the coal used. The manager of the Maritime Ministry, drawing attention to the difference in power values during tests in England and Russia, which reached 2500 hp. pp., irritably noted that such a fact “completely destroys all calculations and technical considerations when designing our new ships with a known task.”
On August 15, the yacht left for Nikolaev, where it soon “disarmed.” In September, her team was sent back to the Baltic, replacing the Black Sea. Property and furniture began to be slowly transported to port warehouses; in the press the ship was delicately referred to as a “former... yacht.” The official conclusion about the weakness of the design of the underwater part of the hull served as a death sentence for the new type of vessel. However, this “weakness” was only a consequence of the main drawback of the yacht: heavy impacts of the hull in waves, noted in all voyages, but manifested themselves with the greatest force in Biscay. It was this phenomenon, which later became known as “slamming,” that deprived the Livadia of its seaworthiness.
The inventor himself was one of the first to realize this. Back in May, responding to a note from Admiral I.A. Shestakov, he honestly admitted: “about this shortcoming... I can say positively that the small deepening of the yacht, which was determined by its limited displacement, constitutes a mistake that I did not foresee in such a situation.” the extent to which it affected practice...” A. A. Popov’s personal letter to the Admiral General said even more precisely: “the pitching of the yacht due to 1) a small depression 2) a flat bottom produces a phenomenon that is not found on other ships in the dimensions that the yacht’s design has... with a pitching pitching from angles of 3 1/4 ° and more aft, the bottom of the bow is exposed, which results in: a) complete destruction of the buoyancy of the bow compartments, which generates tension in the entire fastening system of the yacht’s hull; b) the impacts of the bottom on the waves... are so strong that both the convenience and safety of navigation are completely violated..."
View of part of the dining room

The era of experiments by Admiral A. A. Popov ended with the accession to the Russian throne of Alexander III, who for a long time had disliked Admiral General Konstantin Nikolaevich, and, accordingly, the leadership of the naval department and the “restless admiral” A. A. Popov , who, according to the emperor, was engaged in “rounding out domestic naval architecture.” The emperor immediately placed his brother at the head of the ministry. A. A. Popov was replaced by I. A. Shestakov, who became the next year, 1882, manager of the Maritime Ministry. But Andrei Alexandrovich continued to defend a new type of round vessel. According to E.E. Gulyaev, he even developed the “strongest unsinkable battleship” in the form of “Livadia”; the single-hull elliptical design with vertical sides housed 8,305 mm guns, the displacement was 11,250 tons, and the draft was 4.1 m. The new manager sarcastically noted in his diary: “... he brings everything to his utopias of round ships and Standfil docks.. ."
Trying to save the yacht, A. A. Popov turned to the disgraced Konstantin Nikolaevich and I. A. Shestakov: “... the shortcoming for its special purpose does not amount to anything significant, because to eliminate the blows you can always change the course or even not at all go out to sea. She does not have to chase the enemy, she is not intended to cruise in the oceans, she does not need to be in hurricanes...” However, according to I. A. Shestakov, “The Emperor expressed his consent to deal with the yacht at all costs. Even when I said that a prison is needed in Sevastopol, I also expressed my readiness to give up Livadia.” As a result, it was not possible to carry out new sea trials in 1882, which could be useful for the design, in the future, of new power plants. Moreover, A. A. Popov was offered to cover the amount of bonuses issued to English builders from his personal funds, allegedly without the knowledge of the leadership of the ministry! Only after a four-year litigation did the treasury accept the “loss” upon itself.
Blokshiv "Experience" (former yacht "Livadia") in Sevastopol. In the foreground is the mine cruiser "Kazarsky"

Operated in 1873-1878. The only one of the imperial yachts that directly participated in the hostilities and the only one lost in a shipwreck.

"Livadia"

Imperial steam wheeled yacht "Livadia" after entry into service
Service
Russia
Named after	Livadia Palace
Vessel class and type	Imperial yacht
Home port	Sevastopol
Manufacturer	Nikolaevsky plant
Construction has started	1869
Commissioned	1873
Removed from the fleet	1878
Status	Crashed on the rocks
Main characteristics
Displacement	standard - 1964.5
Length	81.2 m
Width	10.9 m
Draft	4.6 m
Engines	2 steam engines
Power	460 l. With.
Mover	2 paddle wheels
Travel speed	13 knots (24 km/h)
Armament
Artillery	Four 6-pounder guns

History of creation

Since the imperial family’s trips to the Black Sea coast began to acquire a certain regularity, it became necessary to replace the old “Tiger” with a new comfortable yacht “for service off the coast of Crimea.” In 1868, the issue of purchasing a steamship in England was considered to “turn it into a yacht for the Emperor,” but then a decision was made to build a yacht in the Nikolaev Admiralty. Construction of the yacht, named "Livadia", began at the end of 1869, the official keel of the vessel took place on March 19, 1870.

Design

They decided to build the new yacht with dimensions close to the Tiger yacht, but with a significantly increased level of comfort. The yacht was designed and built by the famous Black Sea shipbuilder, Captain of the Corps of Naval Engineers L. G. Shwede, who completed the work by the summer of 1873. The new 4-gun wooden wheeled yacht was not inferior in comfort and decoration of the royal premises to the Baltic “Derzhava”, and in the design of the “royal cabin” in the aft part of the yacht and the dining room on the middle deck, designed by the architect I. A. Monighetti, it even surpassed the latter .

During the construction of the Livadia, L. G. Shwede in 1872 made a drawing of the supposed bow decoration of the yacht in the form of an oval convex shield with the image

The yacht "Livadia" had a displacement of 1964.5 tons, a length of 81.2 meters and a steam engine with power 460 horsepower. In terms of comfort, Livadia was superior to all the yachts of the royal family. The finishing project was developed by the court architect Ippolit Monighetti, who then held the post of chief architect of the Tsarskoye Selo Palace. The imagination of the architect Monighetti was not limited by funds, and the royal yacht turned out to be unusually beautiful and luxurious and cost the treasury 1.75 million rubles. In terms of luxury and richness of its interiors, “Livadia” was more perfect than all the personal ships of the royal persons in the world.

The yacht "Livadia" was a floating royal palace, a real treasure, a symbol of the greatness of the Russian Empire and the highest prestige of the august Romanov family, who perhaps hoped that the yacht would eventually become a museum.

An evil fate seemed to hover over the most luxurious and fastest sailing-wheel steamer of the Russian navy from the very beginning of its construction.
The most beautiful imperial the yacht was laid down at a shipyard in Nikolaev in the spring of 1870 , in the year of birth of V.I. Lenin, who destroyed the Romanov dynasty.

In March 1881 on the 10th anniversary of the laying of his beloved yacht “Livadia”, Emperor Alexander II (1818 - 1881) died from a bomb thrown by a Narodnaya Volya member.

In the summer of 1873, the yacht “Livadia” first delivered Emperor Alexander II and his august family from Sevastopol to Yalta, and his summer residence in Crimea - Livadia Palace, built by architect Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov.

The yacht “Livadia” showed its remarkable seaworthiness during the war with Turkey; the crew of the yacht was able to sink an enemy ship they encountered and safely escape from two Turkish battleships that had been pursuing her for 18 hours! None of the Russian imperial yachts had any enemy ships destroyed in battle. Yacht guns are usually intended for fireworks and cannot withstand the powerful military guns of battleships and cruisers.

The yacht “Livadia” could have served the Russian Empire for a long time, but an insidious wind of change blew into its sails, preparing it for a series of mystical failures and fatal coincidences. Having departed from Sevastopol to Odessa, the yacht "Livadia" foggy night October 22, 1878 ran into underwater reefs off the westernmost cape of Crimea - Tarkhankuta. This happened during a strong autumn storm, when Tarkhankutsky Lighthouse , as luck would have it, there was no light for about 15 minutes, they were changing the burnt wick.

At first, no one doubted that the ship would survive - its hull was not damaged, there were no holes. They tried to remove the yacht from the rocks, but the weather deteriorated sharply, huge waves beat the Livadia with furious force, it tilted heavily, the situation became critical. Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, who was the only royal passenger on board the yacht on that voyage, chose not to risk the lives of the crew and ordered everyone to leave the ship. None of the 16 officers and 227 lower ranks died.

The storm grew stronger every hour, and October 25, 1878 It became finally clear that the royal yacht “Livadia” could no longer be saved. Note: after years on this day the Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace, The October Revolution began brought the death of the Romanov dynasty !

Powerful storm waves broke the ship in two, its bow was carried ashore by the waves. Due to the storms that continued to rage, it was not possible to save all the property of the royal yacht, although the remains of the ship’s hull lingered on the reefs of Tarkhankut for a long time. On the night of December 7, the Livadia, battered by a storm, sank to the bottom.

Photo http://ttkufo34.ru/

Search for the royal yacht "Livadia"

Over time, about the royal yacht that sank off the coast of Tarkhankut October 25, 1878 , completely forgotten. Local residents kept a legend that there was some kind of paddle steamer lying in Tarkhankut Bay, but no one remembered which one, and could not accurately indicate the place of the wreck.

Even the name of the yacht is “Livadia” passed to another ship, which became a laughing stock for the entire fleet. Later, according to Admiral Popov’s design, a new yacht was built, also called “Livadia,” but this flat-bottomed steamer looked like a pathetic monster compared to the sunken royal yacht. The royal family abandoned her, they soon renamed her, but they found no use, and so her inglorious life at the pier ended...

Some historians did not believe at first that Tula diver Oleg Zolotarev found the very first luxurious royal yacht “Livadia”, and it was believed that he had found in the Black Sea the wreckage of the second yacht, created according to the design of Admiral Popov.

— It’s like God is leading me to my goal, - Oleg smiles. – Professional underwater archaeologists are amazed - I come with my Tula guys, dive into the sea, and from the first dive I find a ship that had previously been searched for decades. Of course, this is luck, happiness. But I figured out this place at home...

A lucky chance helped me find “Livadia”. An antique was put up for sale at Sotbis London auction. painting by Russian marine painter Alexander Bogolyubov “The Last Moments of the Imperial Yacht “Livadia”. The painter depicted with photographic precision the royal yacht dying on the rocks; all that remained was to use the rocky terrain to find the point where it sank.

In 2010, Oleg Zolotarev together with colleagues from Tula and scientists from the Kiev National Shevchenko University, they examined the bottom and found fragments of ceramics, fragments of porcelain and earthenware, copper nails, which proved that it was the royal yacht that rested under a layer of sand.

—Measurements were taken of the remains of the paddle wheels and crankshaft of the steam engine, - says Oleg. — The results confirmed the first assumptions: the distance between the inner sides of the paddle wheels was 11 meters, which was quite consistent with the archival data on the width of the Livadia yacht. A metal detector showed the presence in the bottom soil of scattered small copper nails, individual fasteners and fragments of copper sheathing. We picked up fragments of marble tiles and figured cornices. They may have been used to decorate fireplaces or bathrooms.

The artifacts found at the bottom could become exhibits of the exhibition taking place in Moscow in honor of the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, but all the finds remained in Crimea.

Over the years, military and civilian ships were often wrecked near the rocky shore of Tarkhankut, divers continue to find valuable artifacts from past centuries in these places.

They also found another treasure - weapons and many items with Russian 66-gun battleship of the 18th century “St. Alexander”. This ship was also found by Oleg Zolotarev the first time.

— Next summer we want to continue researching “Livadia” and “St. Alexander”,— Oleg shares his plans. – There are points of destruction of several more historical ships in sight, but I won’t name their names yet...

Oleg Zolotarev’s caution is understandable; his fears for the fate of the find are not unfounded; as soon as he revealed the place where Livadia lies, pirates flocked to the royal yacht. “Black drivers” sell to collectors everything they manage to raise from the bottom. Even a copper nail from the lining of an imperial yacht becomes gold among the “black divers.” Thank God that the relics of the unfortunate “Livadia” remaining at the bottom are covered by a thick layer of sand. Let the royal treasures from the fatal ship not bring trouble to anyone! The hull of the royal yacht “Livadia” still lies on the bottom of the sea covered with sand...
Based on an article by Grigory Telnov, first published in the newspaper “Life”