Russian Schooner "Polotsk" 1788 - Master Korabel - Scale 1:72

[Dubz]

My next project I am preparing right now will be the Russian Schooner "Polotsk", part of the black sea fleet in 1788.

Description of the vessel
Two-masted sailing schooner . The length of the schooner was 23.2 meters, width - 7.3 meters, and the draft is 2.9 meters. The vessel's armament consisted of 14 six-pound cast-iron cannons and a crew of 120.

Service history
The ship was built at a shipyard in the Sicilian city of Ragusa (according to other sources in Greece), was used as a corsair ship in the Aegean Sea , robbing Turkish merchant ships.

In 1787, the ship was bought by Russia in Georgia from Greek merchants with the assistance of the diplomat YI Bulgakov. He was brought to Sevastopol by Lieutenant-Commander A.P. Aleksiano (who later became Vice Admiral ). The schooner received the Russian name "Polotsk", in honor of the city of Polotsk , the right-bank part of which from July 25 ( August 5 ),  1772 became part of the Russian Empire after the first partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . The schooner walked between Kozlov (one of the variants of the name of the cityEvpatoria in the 18th century) and Sevastopol.

In 1788 the schooner became a rehearsal (repeating signals) ship of the squadron of Admiral F.F.Ushakov . In the same year Lieutenant GS Karandino was appointed commander of the ship. Since June 1788, "Polotsk" in the squadron of Rear Admiral Count M. I. Voinovich went to sea in search of the enemy. On July 3  ( 14 ),  1788, the schooner took part in the first naval battle of the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-91 at Fidonisi between the fleets of Russia and the Ottoman Empire... In September 1788, "Polotsk" as part of a detachment with four corsair vessels of Greek volunteers under the command of Captain 2nd Rank DN Senyavin was cruising off the Anatolian coast. During the cruise, the detachment bombarded Sinop and Kerasund , destroyed the coastal battery and burned a food warehouse near the city of Bonn (west of Sinop), destroyed 10 Turkish transport ships loaded with timber, provisions and ammunition, and captured one ship. 6  (17) October , in stormy weather, the detachment safely returned to Sevastopol. For this successful raid, the commander of the detachment D.S.Senyavin was awarded the Order of St. George4th degree, and the commander of "Polotsk" GS Karandino in January 1789 was promoted to lieutenant commander and continued command of the same ship as part of the squadron of Rear Admiral FF Ushakov. The vessel repeatedly went on cruising in the area of the Danube estuary.

In 1790, Lieutenant Commander G. G. Belli was appointed commander of the schooner . The ship was on a military cruise in the Black Sea . On May 16  ( 27 ),  1790, the schooner "Polotsk" as part of a squadron went to the Anatolian coast to search for Turkish ships near Sinop. At the end of May, FF Ushakov was sent to Feodosia with a report to Prince GA Potemkin-Tavrichesky , and then returned to the squadron. She took part in battles with the Turkish fleet: on July 8  ( 19 ),  1790 - near the Kerch Strait , at the end of August - near Hajibey Island , July 31  ( August 11)  1791 - at Cape Kaliakria . On August 31  ( September 11 ),  1791, the ship's commander was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir , 4th degree, for the difference in the last battle . From the report of Rear Admiral Ushakov to Prince Potemkin: “ Fleet commander of the fleet, Lieutenant-Commander Belle, of the repetitive ship Polotsk, during the battle with excellent bravery, skill and quickness, performed his duty ... ”.

In 1792-1798, the schooner "Polotsk" under the command of Belli until 1794, and then Lieutenant-Commander FF Messer (later Vice Admiral) was annually on practical voyages in the Black Sea as part of the squadrons.

In 1791, 1793, 1794 the ship was keeled , and in 1796 it was keeled.

In December 1799, the schooner "Polotsk" under the command of Lieutenant K. P. Lobisevich left Nikolaev with supplies for the squadron of Admiral F. F. Ushakov, which was in the Mediterranean Sea, and went missing (it was believed that it was presumably crashed near the Danube Girls ).

Source: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%...%BD%D0%B0)

[Dubz]

Started the hull:















cheers

Dirk

[Dubz]

I forgot to install the transom but that was an easy fix then upper bulkheads and the false deck are installed.











cheers

Dirk

[Dubz]

Next I built the bulwark and the taffrail. Master Korabel provides two jigs for that. One for the bow and another one for the taffrail in the stern.














Then the stern needed to be shaped using a bunch of filler blocks.
















cheers

Dirk

[Dubz]

First layer of planking was easy as all planks are pre-spilled. 










cheers

Dirk

[Dubz]

First layer finished and sanded.


















cheers

Dirk

[Dubz]

Transom sanded.






cheers

Dirk

[Dubz]

Final layer of planking of the taffrail. Some minor issues with a not perfect centerline (damn forgotten transom).












Removed all timbers (except cathead's timber) supporting the bulwark.




cheers

Dirk

[Dubz]

The inner bulwark consisted of two layers, first layer has only opening for gun ports, while the second layer had additional openings for oar ports. This created an illusion of real oarports.

I still have difficulties with glueing these "bigger" size veneers with pva glue, the glue dries too fast the funier curls, it is annoying, maybe a different glue here? Which one?

The gunport openings needed some more love because of all the layers. I used pvc glue and a file to level it and get a smooth surface.













cheers

Dirk

[tkay11]

These seem to be enormously wide planks on the hull. What are they at scale? All the same, they look good!

Tony