Poltava () was a 54-gun ship of the line of the Imperial Russian Navy that was launched on 15 JuneAll dates are in the New Style 1712 from Saint Petersburg. The ship was named after an important for Russia victory over the Swedish Empire in the Battle of PoltavaDubensky, p. 6Bykhovskii, p. 27 and became the first battleship laid down and built at the St. Petersburg Admiralty.Matveeva, p. 43 In the 1710s, the ship was sometimes visited and commanded by Peter I, who also took active part in the design and construction of the ship. During her service of 1712–1732, Poltava was part of the Baltic Fleet, and before the end of Great Northern War participated in six marine campaigns (1713–1717 and 1721). She was later used for training Kronstadt crews in the Baltic Sea. Poltava was decommissioned in 1732.
Background In 1702–1703, Russian troops captured the Swedish fortresses of Noteborg and Nyenskans on the Neva river that provided Russia an outlet to the Baltic Sea. A series of measures were taken in the spring and autumn of 1703 to protect the conquered territories, such as raising the fortresses of St. Petersburg (on Zayachy Island at the mouth of the Neva), and Kronstadt (on the island of Kotlin). Construction of ships of the newly created Baltic Fleet started only in August 1708 – January 1709Dan, p. 155 with four 50-gun ships of the line named Riga, Vyborg, Pernov and one untitled. These ships were not full-fledged battleships because they had a small draft and flat bottom that reduced their sailing capabilities.
Construction A draft of the 54-gun battleship Poltava was developed by the end of 1709 by Peter I and Fedosey Sklyaev using the latest achievements of contemporary shipbuilding. A few years before Poltava was laid down, large stocks of iron parts and high-quality, well-dried oak planks were accumulated at the St. Petersburg Admiralty.Bykhovskii, p. 42 The construction was started by Peter I on 5 December 1709. While Peter dedicated much of his time to the project, he could not continuously oversee the process, and most routine work was done by Sklyaev. The launch of Poltava on 15 June 1712 was attended by the whole royal family. On the night of 24 August, Sklyaev sailed the ship out of St. Petersburg. Because of its large draft, the ship would ground when passing through the Neva; therefore, its front was lifted by specially designed boats.Bykhovskii, p. 47 On 25 August Poltava reached Kronstadt where it was fitted with rigging.
Description
Dimensions and features
By its dimensions Poltava was a fourth-rate line ship: its deck length was , the width without shell was and the depth of hold was .Veselago (1872) p. 8 The ship looked much bigger with all its overhangs and the shell.Dubensky, p. 5 The displacement of Poltava is not known and is estimated at 1100–1200 tonnes.
The contours of Poltavas hull were slightly sharper compared to its progenitors Riga, Vyborg and Pernov. This was criticized by the Englishman John Dan, who served from 1711 to 1722 as a naval officer in the Russian Navy. Dan believed the ship was too narrow in the stern and would not withstand open sea waves.Dan, p. 31 The top part of the hull was bent inwards in order to hinder boarding from an attacking vessel. The shell plating was about thick.
Decor
Decor of Poltava was typical of the time. Its main theme was glorification of the Russian victory over the Swedes at the Battle of Poltava.Dubensky, p. 12 The rear was more round than the pyramidal Dutch shapes. Another distinction of Poltava from contemporary ships was the lack of a walking gallery across the stern. Instead, it featured a protruding balcony with a half-dome roof.Dubensky, p. 13 It also had two rows of windows with small panes, one above the balcony and one running across it. All the sculptures and decorations of the stern were repeated twice in a mirror fashion. An oval cartouche with the name of the ship was positioned in the center of the top part. The cartouche was framed by palm branches and flanked by two sitting glories blowing the trumpets. A naiad further to the ship edge was giving a laurel wreath to each glory. The balcony was flanked by two 82×75 cm figures of Saint George slaying the dragon.Matveeva, p. 44 Further toward the edges there were two figures of falling head-first Phaëton, which meant to allegorically depict Charles XII of Sweden. The balcony featured a large double-headed eagle holding in its beaks and claws maps of the four seas to which Russia gained access during the rule of Peter I. The panels left and right to the eagle contained a traditional arrangement of flags, guns and spears, with heads of Zephyrus "sending winds of victory to the Russian flags". The figurehead most likely represented a lion holding in its claws a shield with a double-headed eagle on it.Matveeva, p. 12
Armament and crew The ship was armed with 54 guns. The lower deck was fitted with twenty two 18-pounders,Gun caliber was traditionally measured by weight of the round shot expressed in artillery pounds (0.491 kg). the upper deck with twenty 12-pounders and quarterdeck with twelve 6-pounders. The ship was also equipped with two reserve rear guns, and was not designed to have frontal guns. There is no reliable information on the anchors of Poltava. It is only known that in June 1712 it should have 4–5 anchors of about 1.5 tonne each.
+Commanders of Poltava NameYear Hendrick Helm1713 Weybrandt Schelting 1714 William Fangent 1715–1717 Jacob Shapizo 1720–1721 Daniel Jacob Wilster 1722–1723 According to the Admiralty regulations of 5 April 1718, the crew of a 50-gun ship should be 350 people and contain 6 officers (captain, a naval secretary, two poruchiks and two sub-poruchiks), two midshipmen, two food commissioners, 6 quartermasters and two cooks, two navigators and two sub-navigators, a bootsmann with three deputies, a shkhiman (sail specialist) with two deputies and two apprentices, a clerk, a doctor with two assistants, a konstabel (artillery specialist) with two deputies and 30 gunners, two trumpeters, three caulkers, a locksmith, a warden (looking for prisoners and order in general) and 16 guard soldiers, three carpenters, 241 sailors and 10 junior sailors.
The crew of Poltava varied from 300 to 460 depending on whether the fleet operations were defensive or offensive, respectively. Because of shortage of sailors the ship was usually understaffed and the documented numbers are as follows: 351 (June 1714), 338 (149 sailors and 189 soldiers, 17 July 1714),Myshlaevsky, p. 153 (Appendix, Table 9) 446 (July 1716) and 292 (March 1721). Jacob Shapizo, who later rose to become commander of the Russian naval base at Reval (Tallinn), was a grandson of the French author Samuel Chappuzeau.
History of service
Campaign of 1713
The first military task of Poltava began on 2 May 1713 when on the orders of Peter I the Kotlinski squadron led by Vice Admiral Cornelius Cruys (4 ships and 2 frigates) left Kronstadt for the Beryozovye Islands and Seskar to join the Reval squadron of Captain Commander Reis. The Cruys' squadron was tasked to hold a superior Swedish squadron by maneuvering in the open seas and attack their small groups.Myshlaevsky, p. 176 The two squadrons met on 8 May, and through the whole month Poltava was sailing at Beryozovye Islands, waiting for the preparations to attack Helsinki by the Finnish corps of Apraksin (infantry) and the Baltic Fleet.Myshlaevsky, p. 196
Between 7 and 12 June 1713, the fleet was visited by Peter I, who brought 8 ships and a battalion of Preobrazhensky Regiment. Peter stayed on PoltavaJournal, p. 362 and inspected the fleet.Myshlaevsky, p. 208Myshlaevsky, p. 210Journal, p. 369 On 2 July 1713, a Swedish squadron of Vice Admiral Lile (9 ships and two frigates) arrived to Helsinki, which was besieged by Russian troops. On 5 July, 3 more Swedish ships of the line blockaded Reval (now Tallinn) which then hosted five Russian warships recently purchased abroad. After receiving the news, on 4 July Peter I arrived in Kronstadt and raised his flag on Poltava. On 7 July, he ordered Cruys with his squadron to relieve the siege of Reval.Journal, p. 370 On 9 July, together with 12 other ships Poltava left Kronstadt heading for the Reval. In the evening of 10 July the vanguard of the squadron spotted the three Swedish ships at the island of Gogland and began chasing them.Anderson, p. 155 However, the next morning the three Russian front ships, Vyborg, Riga and frigate Esperanza run aground and the Swedish ships managed to join the squadron of Lile at Helsinki. Poltava was part of the vanguard, but avoided being stranded.Myshlaevsky, p. 212 On 16 July, it reached Reval, joined the Russian ships there, and together they returned to Kronstadt on 25 July.
Campaign of 1714
In the campaign of 1714, the Russian battleships were tasked to cover-up the galley fleet at Gangut. By early May the Russian fleet included 10 ships with 700 guns at KronstadtMyshlaevsky, p. 352 and 7 ships (370 guns) at Reval. By summer, the fleet counted 25 ships with 1070 guns and more than 7000 crew.Myshlaevsky, pp. 353, 354
Poltava left Kronstadt on 20 May and the next day reached Beryozovye Islands, covering the galley fleet.Myshlaevsky, p. 372 On 31 May, the fleet went to the southJournal, p. 401Myshlaevsky, p. 376 where it remained until the night of 4 June,Journal, p. 402 and on 11 June arrived in Reval.Journal, p. 403Myshlaevsky, p. 383
A Swedish squadron of six ships under the command of Vice Admiral Lile was spotted at Reval in the evening of 17 June.Journal, p. 404 Together with 15 other Russian ships led by Peter I, Poltava for 13 hours chased the Swedish squadron. The pursuit was fruitless and the squadron returned to Reval.Myshlaevsky, p. 384 On 4 August, Poltava left Reval, arrived to Helsinki on 14 August, and on 24 August departed to Kronstadt for overwintering.
Campaigns of 1715–1717 On 4 July 1715, within the squadron of Admiral Apraksin (30 ships and 40 galleys) Poltava left Kronstadt and on 8 July arrived in Reval to join the Anglo-Dutch fleet of Admiral John Norris.Veselago (1875) p. 274 As Norris has not arrived there yet, the Russian fleet cruised between the nearby islands,Veselago (1875) p. 275 and on 24 July met Norris at Reval. After 3 weeks, part of the fleet led by Apraksin left Reval, and nine ships, including Poltava, stayed in Reval for the winter.Veselago (1875) p. 276
On 27 January 1716, Peter I included Poltava in the squadron of Captain Commander Sievers for sailing to Copenhagen to join the Danish fleet and the Russian warships stationed in England and Denmark. For several reasons, the departure was delayed by several months.Veselago (1875) p. 284 A Swedish squadron appeared near Copenhagen, and thus between 20 April and 12 May 1716 Poltava and Reval squadron cruised in the Baltic Sea. After the retreat of the Swedish ships the Russian squadron departed for Copenhagen and arrived there on 19 July.Veselago (1875) p. 286 From 5 to 14 August, Poltava cruised in the Baltic Sea as part of the combined Russian, Danish, English and Dutch fleet,Anderson, p. 174 and on 22 October returned to Reval.
Between 4 June and 16 July 1717, Poltava was part of a squadron of 14 battleships led by Admiral Fyodor Apraksin. It cruised off the Swedish coast and covered landing of Russian troops on the island of Gotland.Anderson, p. 179Veselago (1875) p. 299 In early August of the same year, while chasing a Swedish 6-gun ship,Veselago (1875) pp. 300, 301 Poltava ran aground and was sent for reparations to St. Petersburg.
Further service From the end of July 1718 to 1719 the hull of Poltava was refitted at the St. Petersburg Admiralty under the direction of shipwright Blaise-Antoine Pangalo.Veselago (1872) p. 9 In April 1720, she sailed to Kronstadt, and in June, within the squadron of Captain Commander Fangoft (9 ships), went to Reval.Veselago (1875) p. 338