Name Savarona Completed March 1931 Length 136 m Beam 16 m | Yard number 490 In service 1931–1938 Launched 28 February 1931 | |
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Owner Emily Roebling Cadwallader Fate Sold to the Republic of Turkey | ||
The MV Savarona (also sometimes M/Y, for motor yacht) is the Presidential yacht of the Republic of Turkey reserved for the use of the President of Turkey. She was the largest in the world when launched in 1931, and remains, with a length of 136 m (446 ft), one of the world’s longest. Although owned by the government of Turkey, she had been briefly leased out to Turkish businessman Kahraman Sadıkoğlu. However, upon orders of the Turkish Government her lease was terminated and she reverted to the Turkish State. The MV Savarona is now the State Yacht of the Republic of Turkey and reserved for the use of the President. The first time she was used again for an official reception was in March 2015.
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History
Named for an African swan living in the Indian Ocean, the ship was designed by Gibbs & Cox in 1931 for American heiress Emily Roebling Cadwallader, granddaughter of John A. Roebling, engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge. The ship was built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany. She cost about $4 million ($57 million in 2010 dollars). Equipped with Sperry gyro-stabilizers, she was described in 1949 by Jane's Fighting Ships as "probably the most sumptuously fitted yacht afloat."
In 1933, the ship was used as a filmset while on the North Sea off the German coast. It appeared prominently in the German science-fiction film Gold, starring Hans Albers and Brigitte Helm. The movie premiered in 1934.
In 1938, the Turkish government gifted the yacht for ailing leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who spent only six weeks aboard before dying a few months later.
Throughout World War II, the ship lay idle in Kanlıca Bay on the Bosporus. In 1951, she was converted to the training ship Güneş Dil (English: Sun Language) and during the next years sailed to many countries. In October 1979, the ship was gutted by fire at the Turkish Naval Academy off Heybeliada Island in the Sea of Marmara. She lay virtually abandoned for ten years.
In 1989, she was chartered for 49 years by Turkish businessman Kahraman Sadıkoğlu. Over three years, his firm completely refurbished her for about $45 million, removing the original steam turbine engines and installing modern Caterpillar diesel engines. The ship was rebuilt at Tuzla Shipyards in Tuzla, a suburb of Istanbul, for the purpose of serving famous and important guests and helping to keep the memory of Atatürk alive.
Sadıkoğlu rented her out as a luxury cruise ship to private clients. In fall 2010, many Turkish media published news about the alleged presence of underage prostitutes in some of those cruises, causing a scandal. Sadıkoğlu, who was not present at the cruise, put in doubt the allegations later. Regardless, the lease contract was rescinded and the Turkish government took the ship back.
After a new restoration period of 10 month, the Savarona was ready for official use in August 2014. However, it was not until March 4, 2015, when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had the first official reception on board, including a short cruise along the Bosporus, with his guest the Bosnian politician Bakir Izetbegović.
Features
Savarona features a swimming pool, a Turkish bath, a 282-foot (86 m) gold-trimmed grand staircase that survived from her original construction, a movie theater, and a library suite dedicated to Atatürk, which is furnished with many of his personal artifacts. Under its charter operator the yacht was available for charter including the crew but not provisions.
Specifications
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