Mykolaiv Shipyard () () was a major

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

located in

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( ), also known as Nikolaev ( ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and a hromada (municipality) in southern Ukraine. Mykolaiv is the Administrative centre, administrative center of Mykolaiv Raion (Raions of Ukraine, district) and Myk ...

, Ukraine. Originally named the Nikolayev Admiralty, and constructed in 1788 for the purpose of supplying the Russian

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

, the Mykolaiv Shipyard was famous for having built warships such as ''Vitse-admiral Popov'', '' Knyaz' Potemkin-Tavricheskiy and Imperator Nikolai I'' for the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, and ''Soobrazitelny'', ''Gnevny'', ''Nikolayev'' and '' Slava for the'' Soviet Union''.'' Until 2017, the shipyard was named as the Shipyard named after 61 Communards, a name inherited from its period as a major

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

shipyard.The shipyard has also been referred to as the Mykolaiv North Shipyard, to differentiate it from the

Black Sea Shipyard The Black Sea Shipyard (; ) was a shipbuilding facility in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on the southern tip of the Mykolaiv peninsula. It was founded in 1895 by Belgian interests and began building warships in 1901. At the beginning of World War I in 1914, ...

present in the same city.Polmar, p. 407 The Mykolaiv shipyard is a subsidiary of the Ukrainian state-run defence conglomerate Ukroboronprom. The shipyard has largely been inactive since its declaration of bankruptcy in 2020, with its facilities and offices largely derelict. Construction and maintenance for the

Ukrainian Navy The Ukrainian Navy (), is the Navy, maritime force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, service branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The naval forces consist of five components: surface forces, submarine forces, Ukrainian Naval ...

, as well as commercial shipping moved to the former

, located in the south of

. However, some small scale ship maintenance and repair was still present at the shipyards.

History

Foundation

The city of Nikolayev, now known as

, was founded by Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski on behalf of Russian empress

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

after the annexation of the Ottoman territory of Yedisan, during the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

of 1768–1774. In 1788, the Nikolayev Admiralty was founded on the banks of the Ingul river approximately 89 km inland from the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

.Shipyard's office public website
, Accessed 2008-09-06. Nikolayev, as well as the neighbouring city of

Kherson Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...

were founded as part of Potemkin's goals of establishing cities that would facilitate the creation of a

, a key component in developing the territory of

Novorossiya Novorossiya rus, Новороссия, Novorossiya, p=nəvɐˈrosʲːɪjə, a=Ru-Новороссия.ogg; , ; ; ; "New Russia". is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later becom ...

as a key region of the

. The shipyard would be named after

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

, the patron saint of seafarers in the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

. The first ship built by the shipyard was the fifth-rate

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

'' St. Nicholas,'' launched in 1790. ''St. Nicholas'' would see service in the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, notably taking part in the Battle of Cape Kaliakra during the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792), as well as operations during the

War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition () (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war targeting French Revolution, revolutionary French First Republic, France by many European monarchies, led by Kingdom of Great Britain, Britai ...

. The

fourth-rate In 1603 all English warships with a complement of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers, a six-tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided ...

''Grigory Velikiia Armenii,'' sixth-rate ''Legkii'' and second-rate ''Sviatoi Pavel'' were launched in the following years. Between the years 1816 and 1833, over 100 warships were built at the admiralty. 1820 and 1825 saw the launching of two

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

s, being ''Vezuviy'' and ''Meteor''. The latter would be the first naval steamship to be present in the

. In 1827–1829, the neighbouring Kherson Admiralty Shipyard was shut down, with its remaining assets merged into the Nikolayev Shipyard. By the middle of the 19th century, the Nikolayev Admiralty became the de facto centre of naval shipbuilding for the

. An advantage of the shipyards was the warmer climate of the

, in comparison to others such as the

Admiralty Shipyard The JSC Admiralty Shipyards () (''formerly Soviet Shipyard No. 194'') is one of the oldest and largest shipyards in Russia, located in Saint Petersburg. The shipyard's building ways can accommodate ships of up to , in length and in width. Mili ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

.In 1833, Commander of the Black Sea Fleet Admiral Lazarev took command of the admiralty. At the time, the shipyard was experiencing significant growth, with the Admiral stating that "''if the shipyard grows, so does the city".'' In 1838, work started on the first major redevelopment of the shipyard. A number of new facilities, including a rope factory, foundry, and three new slipways were built. Conditions further improved with the installation of a large movable crane.

Crimean War

During the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

, Nikolayev became the administrative centre of the Black Sea Fleet, due to the Franco-British-Turkish assault on the city of Sevastopol. As a result, the shipyard dedicated all of its resources towards provisioning the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

. In addition to this, many plant workers were involved in the defence of the city itself. The war concluded with the Treaty of Paris in 1856. The terms of the treaty made the

neutral territory, closing it to Russian warships and prohibiting the development of coastal defences and fortifications. The significant shipbuilding capabilities of the shipyard were now redundant for the meager remains of the

. After the war, the

first-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying at least ...

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two column ...

''Sinop'' and ''Tsesarevich'', which had been laid down prior to the start of hostilities, were launched in 1857 and 1858, only to be transferred to the

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...

. In 1857, the first ironclad ship named ''Inkerman'' was launched. Beggrow 006

In 1860 General admiral Konstantin Nikolayevich ordered the conversion of ''Tigr'', a three-masted

built in 1855–1858, into a

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

for the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

named '' Livadia''. Work began in the end of 1869, although officially the '' Livadia'' was laid down only in March 1870. The ship transported the royal family around the Black Sea, as well as seeing action in the

Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) The Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and a coalition led by the Russian Empire which included United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, Romania, Principality of Serbia, Serbia, and Principality of ...

. Ultimately the ship ran around on the Tarkhankut Peninsula in 1878. While the crew and ships contents were successfully recovered, the ship itself would be destroyed by the harsh waves of the peninsula. In 1861, the Admiralty instituted a 10-hour working day, beginning at 5:00 am.

Pre-dreadnought era

In 1871,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

announced its refusal to comply with the restrictions imposed in her by the Treaty of Paris. As such the construction of coastal defence ships and monitors developed at the shipyard as time went on. Of particular note was the monitor '' Vitse-admiral Popov'', with its unusual circular hull. In 1868, the Scottish shipbuilder John Elder published an article that advocated that widening the beam of a ship would reduce the area that needed to be protected and allow it to carry thicker armour and heavier guns. In addition such a ship would have a shallower draught and that only a moderate increase in power would be required to match the speed of the normal ship.

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Andrei Alexandrovich Popov of the Imperial Russian Navy further broadened Elder's concept by broadening the ship so that it was actually circular. This started with the ''Novgorod'', then culminated with '' Vitse-admiral Popov.''

Battleships

The debacle of the

prompted the

to enact a strategy of modernisation. As the era of the

Age of Sail The Age of Sail is a period in European history that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid-15th) to the mid-19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the int ...

drew to a close, the Admiralty focussed on the development of modern battleships, to compete with the naval power of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

in the later half of the 19th century. The first battleship class specially built for the

was the ''Ekaterina II''-class battleship. Their design was unusual in having main guns mounted on three barbettes grouped in a triangle around a central armoured redoubt. This was intended to maximise her forward facing firepower, adapted towards the shallow waters of the

. ''Ekaterina II'' was named after the Empress

Catherine II of Russia Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

. She was laid down on 26 June 1883, launched on 20 May 1886, and completed in 1889. The remaining three ships of the class were built at the Russian Steam Navigation Company shipyards in

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

. ''Ekaterina II'' was followed on until 1910 by '' Dvenadsat Apostolov, Tri Sviatitelia, Rostislav, Knyaz' Potemkin-Tavricheskiy and Evstafi.'' File:Russian Fleet (1892) il. 08 (cropped).jpg, '' Ekaterina II'' File:Russian Fleet (1892) il 12 Dvenadsat Apostolov Restoration cropped-edited.jpg, '' Dvenadsat Apostolov'' File:TriSvyatitelya1891-1923Sevastopol.jpg, '' Tri Sviatitelia'' File:Rostislav - Brassey's Naval Annual 1902.png, '' Rostislav'' File:Potemkin - Brassey's Naval Annual 1905.png, '' Knyaz' Potemkin-Tavricheskiy'' File:Evstafiy1914Sevastopol.jpg, '' Evstafiy''

Cruisers and Destroyers

The ship '' Pamiat' Merkuria,'' named after the famous Russian brig '' Merkury,'' was laid down in 1900, launched in 1903 and completed in 1907. Munity at the shipyard during the

Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

significantly delayed completion. In the turbulent period from the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the ship would sail under the names, changing names to reflect the changing situation. The ship would be briefly named '' Hetman Ivan Mazepa'', under control of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

, then the

Ukrainian State The Ukrainian State (), sometimes also called the Second Cossack Hetmanate, Hetmanate (), was an Anti-communism, anti-Bolshevik government that existed on most of the modern territory of Ukraine (except for Western Ukraine) from 29 April to 14 ...

, a puppet of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. Eventually falling under control of the

, the ship would receive the name '' Komintern''.

Coastal and Torpedo boats

In 1889, the ship ''Kapitan Saken'' was launched. At the same time, the Koreets class gunboats ''Chernomorets, Donets, and Zaporozhets'' were also built. Additionally, the torpedo cruiser ''Griden'' was laid down on 04 September 1892, launched on 31 November 1893, commissioned in November 1895 and was assigned to the Black Sea Fleet.

Dreadnought era

Between 1911 and 1914, two building berths with slip-ways, an assembling and welding workshop, a number of buildings and an outfitting wharf were built on the left bank of the Ingul River. The shipyard was given the new name Russud. Early in the Soviet era, the shipyard was renamed to the ''Andre Marti (North) Yard''. In 1931, the shipyard was named after 61 Communards. From then on, torpedo-boats, destroyers, light cruisers, submarines; naval supply vessels, including rescue vessels of various purposes equipped with deep-water operation systems were built. It was named Shipyard No. 200 (in the name of 61 Communards) on 30 December 1936 and was renumbered as Shipyard No. 445 when it reopened after the end of World War II.Harrison

Facilities and Services

The shipyard is about , with a building area of about and 1–2 Kone four-legged cranes. Production capacities of the shipyard are concentrated in 286 industrial buildings and 165 industrial structures.

Soviet-built ships

Cruisers

* ''Kronshtadt''-class battlecruiser: 1 (along with

) * Kara-class cruiser: 7 (whole class) * ''Slava''-class cruiser: 4 (whole class)

Destroyers

* ''Skoryy''-class destroyer: 18 (all names started with ''B'')

Submarines

* Shchuka-class submarine, Series V-modified: 3 * Shchuka-class submarine, Series V-modified-2: 4 * Shchuka-class submarine, Series X: 8

Notable vessels

The following vessels were constructed at this shipyard. The list is not all inclusive.Black Sea Fleet Information Resource Online
/ref> :Note:

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

class only shown if applicable; classes of vessels launched before 1949 are provided as originally designated. The name of the ship provided is the name given when launched–some ships may have since been renamed.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

State Enterprise "Shipyard named after 61 Communards" Public Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shipyard Named After 61 Communards Buildings and structures in Mykolaiv Shipbuilding companies of Ukraine Shipbuilding companies of the Soviet Union Ukrainian brands Shipbuilding companies of the Russian Empire Defence companies of Ukraine Companies nationalised by the Soviet Union Ukroboronprom