A Replica of Shtandart, First-Born of Russia's Navy by Vladimir Martous and Gregory Palmer hen the first Shtandart was sea power. One of the earliest manifesbuilt in 1703, it was the sym- tations of its new place in the world was bol ofa revolution taking place the frigate Shtandart, the "firstborn " of in Russia. Led by Tsar Peter the Great, the Russian Navy . the country began looking towards the When Peter came to power in 1689 at West to influence its soc ial, intellectual, the age of 17, he showed an early interest economic and technological advances. in technology and in the application of Today , during another period of up- European ideas in Russ ia. At that time, heaval, a replica of Peter' s Shtandart is Russia ' s onl y access to the oceans of the rising on the ways in St. Petersburg, world was through the White Sea. At where Russ ia 's navy was born 300 years first his attention was directed towards ago. This new Shtandart will be an inter- the south against Turkey , with the goal national ambassador for Russia and the of acq uiring access to the Sea of Azov City of St. Petersburg and a representa- and the Dardanelles. Although he won a tive of the new spirit of Russia. qualified victory against Turkey in the Russia has a great maritime tradition Sea of Azov in 1695 , the Tsar realized stretching back to Viking times, extend- that Russia needed to make a quantum ing from the icy waters of the Bering Sea leap in shipbu ilding and associated techto the shores of the Black Sea. Distinc- nologies and that a move against Swetive types of vessels have developed den in the north might be more effective along her shores and inl and waterways , than a continuing push to the south. but fo r most of the 20th century, while In 1696 he encouraged the Duma other countries have sought to preserve (Parliament) to pass legislation estabtheir maritime past and make use of their li shing a permanent Russian fleet and traditional craft, Russia has been in tlu¡all decreed the "Great Embassy" in the to the idea of progress and the belief that cou rse of which Russian experts in varionJy modem ideas should surv ive. Dur- ous fields would visit European couning the last few years this attitude has tries to observe the latest developments changed and Russians are free to exam- in their areas of expertise. In 1698 Peter ine their past and to be influenced by it. visited naval shipyards in Zaandam in This new view of history has allowed Holland and at Deptford in England. more attention to be given to the role of On his return to Russia, Peter began indi vidual genius as a factor in history. a military campaign against Sweden, For the people of St. Petersburg and for defeating them at Noteborg on the Neva Russ ians interested in the sea, Peter the in 1702. This brought Russ ia within Great was such an individual. reach of the sea and orders were given Under Peter I, Russia emerged as a for the construction of six ships at a This model of the Shtandart shows the elaborate carving on the vessel' s stern
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and surrounding the gunports. Limewoodfrom St. Petersburg parks is being used to duplicate this carving on th e replica .
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shipyard on the estuary of the river Syas. By the e nd of January two snows had been laid down and pine timber stockpiled for the other fo ur ships, but Peter was not satisfied that this yard could handle the volume of work required for the construction of larger ships. The next contract, issued on 24 March 1703, went to the Olonets shipyard on the Sv ir. Thi s contract was for a frigate , two galli ots , five small sailing boats and two smacks. These vessels were to form the basis of the Baltic fl eet, and the frigate was to be the 30-meter, 28-gun Shtandart. The construction was entrusted to Dutch master Vibe Ferense, assisted by the Russian Ivan Nemtsov. The frigate was launched on 22 August 1703. Peter himself had worked in the yard during August, and he had been responsible for the design of the ship. She was named Shtandart in honor of his new royal standard-a black double-eagle on a yellow background holding in its four claws charts of the four seas to which Russia now had access. The ship was nominally in commi ssion from 1703 until 1728, although for much of this time she was not in service. She was part of the defensive fleet stationed in St. Petersburg in 1704 and 1707 and participated in campaigns against Sweden in 1705 and 1706. She was put in for repairs in 1708 and was to be part of a campaign to take Viborg in 1709, but that plan was abandoned due to the poor condition of the fleet. Repairs on Shtandart were completed in 1712, but she was soon back in the yard for the addition of a false keel. She served with the fleet again from 1714 to 1716. After 1719 Shtandart was laid up in the Kronwerk Canal and Peter ordered " she must stay fo rever as a monument to the Russian art of shipbuilding. " Peter died in 1725 and was succeeded by his widow, Catherine I. Two years later a commission appointed by the Board of Admiralty reported thatShtandart was in poor conditi on. Catherine requested information on the possibility of repairing the vessel, but water and time had done their work and the hull was so rotten that any fo rce exerted upon it would have led to its destruction. Catherine decreed thatShtandart was to be dismantled, but "fo r the memory of SEA HISTORY 84, SPRING 1998