The first battleship of the Black Sea Fleet “Viva Catherine” was launched 230 years ago

The first sailing vessels in Russia were built on the dockyard, founded in 1667 in the village of Dedinovo of Kolomensky uyezd by the order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The reforms of Peter I favoured the building of dockyards, and by that time there were over 200 dockyards in the country. But after the death of Peter I the ship building in Russia declined. Only during the reign of Catherine II it was decided to make the Russian Navy larger and stronger than the Danish and Swedish Navies taken together. In time of peace the Russian Navy was supposed to contain 21 battleships, 4 frigates and over 50 other vessels, in the war time this number could have been increased.

In 1778 the new seaport Kherson, equipped with stocks for building the battleships and frigates, was founded in the mouth of Dnieper River. On 26 May (6 June) 1779 the Commander of the Black Sea Fleet artillery I. A. Hannibal founded the first two 66-gun battleships in the Kherson dockyard, and “Viva Catherine” became the principal.

The plan of the new battleship is supposed to have been worked out by the shipwright A. S. Katasonov and built by the naval architect I. A. Afanasjev. The ship’s lower deck was 48,77 m. long, 13, 5 m. in width (without planking), the depth of hold reached 5,8 m. The elegant classical naval vessel was equipped with traditional straight sails alongside with the new fore-and-aft sails. The captain 1st class the Montenegrin Count Marco Ivanovich Vojnovich became its first commander.

The building of the ship was too slow, therefore its launching on 16 (27) September 1783 became the big occasion. “Viva Catherine” was tested during the Russo-Turkish War 1787–1791. In 1788 by the order of the general-field marshal G. A. Potyomkin the ship was renamed “Transfiguration of Jesus”. The battleship participated in all the important campaigns of the Russian squadron, among them the triumphant sea battles under the command of Admiral F. F. Ushakov. The glory of the ship, won in hard sea fights, allows to call “Viva Catherine” the hero-ship of the Russian Fleet.  

Lit.: Дыгало В. А. История корабля (судостроение в России). М., 1991; Адмирал Ушаков. Материалы для истории русского флота. Т. 1. М., 1951.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Аренс Е. И. История русского флота : Екатерининский период. СПб., 1897;

The first Baltic Navy frigate ‘Standard’ is laid // On this day. 4 April 1703;

Кротков А. С. Русский флот в царствование императрицы Екатерины II с 1772 г. по 1783 год. СПб., 1889.