Dershava
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The Derschawa (Russian: Держава, German: state , power , but here imperial orb ) was the imperial yacht of the Romanov family . The ship was on 1866 laid Kiel and ran 1871 from the pile . The Derschawa in the Baltic Sea and the Liwadia in the Black Sea were the last paddle steamers built as yachts for the Romanovs. The Derschawa remained in service as a state yacht until 1898 and was then converted into a training ship. As such, it was given the name Dvina .
The Derschawa was laid down on April 28, 1866 at the New Admiralty shipyard in Saint Petersburg . The Russian Emperor Alexander II was present when the keel was laid . The construction of the yacht was based on the HMY Victoria and Albert II , which was launched on January 16, 1855. The construction of the Derschawa was tedious; it only started five years later, on July 31, 1871. The two steam engines, which were designed and built in Russia, delivered a combined output of 720 PSi and gave the ship a speed of 16.72 knots.
There were two free-standing superstructures on the deck of the Derschawa . At the stern were the rooms for the Russian Emperor, at the bow for the Admiral General of the Russian fleet . The interior design was entrusted to Ippolito Monighetti (Ипполит Антонович Монигетти), a Russian artist and architect. The order for the figurehead went to Mikhail Ossipowitsch Mikeschin . Mikeschin proposed an allegorical female figure holding a sword and orb in her hands. Alexander turned down such proposals in 1867, however, and ordered Mikeschin to design one of the usual Russian double-headed eagles. As instructed, Mikeschin delivered the figure in July 1870, but his sculpture differed significantly from the double-headed eagles common in Russia at the time.
The Derschawa crew consisted of no less than 200 men. In 1888 there were 238 people, including 93 mechanics and stokers, 65 musicians and 15 choir singers, but this did not include the personal service of the imperial family, which comprised around 50 servants.
The Derschawa was used as a yacht until 1898. Then she was converted into a training ship and renamed as Dwina . The Dwina was finally decommissioned in 1905.
