Type Torpedo boat tender Draught 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in) Weight 2,500 tons | Beam 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in) Length 73 m Draft 4.6 m | |
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Name Veliky Knyaz Konstantin Displacement 2,500 t (2,461 long tons) Speed 12.7 knots (14.6 mph; 23.5 km/h) | ||
Veliky Knyaz Konstantin (Russian: Великий князь Константин) was the name of a torpedo boat tender of the Russian Navy named after the Grand Duke (Veliky Knyaz) Konstantin of Russia, and which served in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. Stepan Osipovich Makarov, a famous Russian Navy commander, was the captain of the ship.
She was laid down as a passenger ship, but was fitted out as a torpedo boat tender to the design of Stepan Makarov in 1877. She carried four small torpedo boats: Chesma (Чесма), Sinop (Синоп), Navarin (Наварин) and Miner (Минер).
The first vessel ever sunk by self-propelled torpedoes was the Turkish steamer Intibah, on 16 January 1878, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. She was hit by torpedoes launched from torpedo boats operating from the tender under the command of Stepan Osipovich Makarov.