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Kherson Admiralty

The Kherson Admiralty was the citadel of naval shipbuilding of the russian empire on the Dnieper, which became the cradle of the Black Sea Fleet. It was here, at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, that the first ships of the line and frigates were built.

Overview

The city of Kherson, founded on 18 June 1778, arose as a fortress and a center of shipbuilding. The mighty ramparts of the Kherson fortress, reinforced with bastions and ravelins and armed with 220 guns, reached the very bank of the Dnieper and reliably protected the citadel — the Black Sea Admiralty.

As early as 1779, docks for building large ships of the line were constructed at the shipyard. On the shore, on the slips, the hulls of fast and maneuverable frigates and other warships were assembled.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • First ships: On 16 September 1783 the 66-gun ship of the line Slava Ekateriny ("Glory of Catherine") was launched — the firstborn of the Black Sea Fleet; on 12 October 1784 the ship Svyatoy Pavel ("Saint Paul") followed.
  • Scale of production: At 5 slipways, vessels armed with 66 to 110 guns were constructed.
  • Total output: From 1783 to 1827, about 200 vessels were built at the Kherson shipyard — 33 ships of the line, 16 frigates, a bomb vessel, numerous galleys, yachts, boats, transport vessels, and floating batteries.
  • Shipbuilding masters: Semen Afanasiev, Mykhailo Surovtsev, Oleksandr Katasonov; the first Kherson shipbuilders were thousands of workers, sailors, and soldiers.

Drawing of a flashkhout (a type of ship's deck-planking timber) signed by shipmaster M. Surovtsev. Kherson, 1817.

Controversies and Open Questions

This section is not filled in — the available source contains no contradictory information.