Th e replica takes shape at the original Admiralty Dockyard in St. Petersburg.
her name . . . which was given to he r by Hi s Hi ghness (Peter I) she is to be built anew." Unfortunately, her orders were not carried out. The Reconstruction In 199 1, Leningrad was renamed St. Petersburg. That year a new mu se um was opened in the city as a branch of the Hermitage. It was decided that the mu seum should include a replica ship as a memorial to the Russian shipbuilding art. The Shtandart was chosen because of its connection with St. Petersburg and Peter I; it was originally designed to sail the local waters; it is large enough to be used fo r ocean voyaging and to participate in tall ships races; and it was of a sophisticated design that could be used fo r wooden shipbuilding and sail training programs. Historian V. G. Krain yukov was commi ssioned to recreate the Shtanda rt' s pl ans. No drawings of the vessel had survived, but he was able to build an accurate pi cture of the ship from d rawings and other documents from the earl y 1700s, including "Books of shipbuild ing at the Ol onets shipyard" and " Lists of ships built at Olonets." These gave info rmation concerning the principal di mensions of other frigates built at the yard . The Shtandart' s general appearance could be deduced from the Dutc h engraving "Russian ships in a battle with the Swedes in 1705 off Richa rd Island ." The new plans followed historic resources as closely as possibl e, with modifi cations necessary for modern safety requirements. The main dimensions of Shtandart were fo und in archival documents: Overall length : 30. 5 meters Length on deck: 25 .4 meters Waterline length: 24.2 meters Maximum beam: 7 .0 meters Mast height: 27.4 meters SEA HISTORY 84, SPRING 1998
Draft: 2.5 meters Displacement: 186 tons Sail area: 620 square meters Two independent organizati ons came together in October l 994. The Shtandart Club, a youth organi zation, had built a 12-meter, lug-ri gged gig in association with the Atlantic Challenge Foundation (run by Lance Lee in the US) . They had a waterfront site leased from the city on which a workshop and bunkhouse had been built. Several of the people involved had been trained in the US, and they had form ed the notion of building a replica of the Shtandart. Separately, Vladimir Mait ous had laid out specific plans fo r constructing Shtandart and had experience in building wooden replicas, hav ing worked on a 12-meter pomor kotch-a local hi storic merchant vessel-and the 17-meter, 18th-century , Baltic topsail schooner St. Peter. He formed the Maritime Education Center, of which he is the director. The two organizati ons are independently run and funded, but are partners in the building of Shtandart. The ship has been underway since November l 994, when the keel was laid. Much of the timber has been donated, including oak for the keel, keelson, stem and frames. The larch fo r planking has been arranged from the Lindoul ovsky fo rest on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland . This fo rest was establi shed at the behest of Peter the Great to provide timber for new ships for the fl eet to be built at Kronstadt, so it is a most appropri ate source of timber. Limewood for the carved decorations has been collected fro m several city parks. The site is located on the riverfront in a public park. The main building is a traditional Russian loghouse of three stories built in 1993 with the assistance of the Ameri can Timber Framers' Guild.
The loghouse contains a workshop, a carving shop, a des ign loft, messroom and bunkhouse. We have three sources of labor: volunteers (mostl y students), trainees from the city youth employment office, and paid staff (the director and instructors). The trainees are paid minimum wages with fund s fro m the Federal Government, and thi s money has been subject to the delays and cance ll ati ons that have affected all government workers. Salaries for the paid staff have come from the fo undati on sponsor, Dolphin Exhibi tions. And hi storian Greg Palmer is on loan to the Shtandart Project from British Executive Service Overseas. Lack of funding has caused some moti vati onal problems. Therefore, we try to encourage the crew with special celebrations, shai¡ed meals, publicity, sailing expedi ti ons and the expectati on of sailing aboard Shtandart. The project has introduced young Ru ssians to the ideals of individuali sm, enterprise, voluntari sm, service and adventure. It also provides opportunities fo r profess ional development in technology , management and marketing. When the building of the replica of Shtandart began in November 1994, the builders had little but their enthusiasm to support them, but the project seems to have a momentum of its own. As the physical structure has grown, other aspects of the project have fallen into place: the site, the labor force, the sponsorship , materi als, the coincidence with the 300th anniversary and the interest of the citizens of St. Petersburg. We have received local support as well as sponsorship fro m abroad, particul arl y from organizations in Great Britain and the Netherlands. Currently, everything is in place fo r a launching in 1998. 1The Maritime Education Center, PO Box 100, St. Petersburg 195112 , Russia; (7 812) 230 3736; PAX: (7812) 112 4551; email: rusmedia@mail.wplus.net. This article is excerpted from a paper presented at the International Confe rence on Historic Ships in Bristol in 1996. Mr. Martous is director of the Maritime Education Center. Mr. Palmer is a British historian and sailor teaching at the Philological Facuity ofthe University of St. Petersburg. 45