 Painting byAlexey Bogolyubov | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Russian Empire | |
| Name | Pallada |
| Builder | Admiralty Shipyard |
| Laid down | November 14, 1831 |
| Launched | September 13, 1832 |
| In service | August 1833 |
| Fate | scuttled by crew in 1856 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Frigate |
| Tons burthen | 2090 tons |
| Length | 52.73 metres (173.0 ft) |
| Beam | 13.31 metres (43.7 ft) |
| Draught | 7.01 metres (23.0 ft) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Speed | 12 knots |
| Complement | 426 |
| Armament |
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Pallada (Russian:Паллада) was a sailfrigate of theImperial Russian Navy, most noted for its service asflagship of Vice AdmiralYevfimy Putyatin during his visit to Japan in 1853, which later resulted in the signing of theTreaty of Shimoda of 1855, establishing formal relations between the two countries. In addition to her diplomatic mission, her crew also conducted numerous geographical and natural studies in the Far East. She was scuttled by her own crew in theCrimean War due to the poor condition of her hull in 1855.
Pallada was built at theAdmiralty Shipyard inSt Petersburg, with her hull design based on the British frigateHMS President (1829), which in turn was based after an American frigate,President which had been captured as aprize of war by theRoyal Navy during theWar of 1812. The ship was intended from the start for use by members of theRussian imperial family on diplomatic missions, andTsar Nicholas I issued an imperial rescript commanding that the vessel incorporate all of the latest innovations. After launching, she was based atKronstadt with theBaltic Fleet and was assigned to the command of CaptainPavel Nakhimov, one of the ablest commanders in the Russian Navy. She entered active service in early August 1833.
Pallada was a three-masted frigate of wooden construction, with a transverse steel reinforcement skeleton in her hull. The length of the hull, at the height of the main deck battery, was 52.73 m (173.0 ft) (withoutbowsprit), the maximum interior width was 13.31 m (43.7 ft). Her hull was sheathed in copper sheets, to prevent destruction of the wood by marine organisms. A novelty on the Russian ships at the time was the use of portholes for lighting crew spaces on the lower deck.
Nominally,Pallada was classified as 44-gun frigate (Fifth-rate); however, her actual weaponry in service consisted of 30 × 24-pounder guns on her upper deck and 22 × 24-poundercarronades on herquarterdeck andforecastle. Her crew numbered 426 men.
In 1834,Pallada transported the futureFrederick William IV of Prussia on a state visit to Russia. From 1835 to 1836 she served in various ports in the Baltic and in 1837 was tasked with carrying gold bullion to London on a special mission for the Russian embassy. She served until 1846 as a training ship for cadets. She underwent a complete overhaul from 1846 to 1848, and afterwards was assigned to the Mediterranean, calling onMadeira andLisbon in 1849 and was frequently the flagship forGrand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia.
In 1852,Pallada was assigned to a special expedition to the Far East under the command of AdmiralIvan Unkovsky as theflagship of Vice AdmiralYevfimy Putyatin. On his expedition, Putyatin was accompanied byAlexander Mozhaysky and a secretary, the writerIvan Goncharov, who wrote a travelogue,Fregat Pallada (The Frigate Pallas), published in 1858 ("Pallada" is the Russian spelling of "Pallas").[1]
She departed Kronstadt on October 19, 1852, but was forced to dock atPortsmouth in England for repairs lasting a month. In January 1853, Admiral Unkovsky decided not to riskCape Horn, but to follow the route to Asia around theCape of Good Hope and theIndian Ocean. She spent over a month inSouth Africa for repairs and for collecting specimens of local flora and fauna, and crossed to theSunda Strait in mid-May, where Putyatin sent a cable to St Petersburg requesting the dispatch of the newly builtDiana due to repeated problems withPallada. After calling onSingapore andJava, followed byHong Kong, she reached theBonin Islands by July 9 but was there demasted by atyphoon. While under repairs, her crew took the opportunity to explore the archipelago.
Pallada finally arrived inNagasaki on August 12, 1853, just one month after the first visit ofCommodore Perry toUraga outside ofEdo Bay. Treaty negotiations with the Japanese were difficult and protracted, and Putyatin sent the ship on a number of survey missions around the Japanese coast.
After the arrival ofDiana, the diplomatic crew transferred to the newer vessel whilePallada was sent to survey the coasts ofKorea and the RussianMaritime Province. While atImperatorskaya Gavan on 22 May her crew learned of the outbreak of theCrimean War with Britain and France. Unable to enter theAmur River because of her draft, she overwintered at Imperatorskaya Gavan. In the spring of 1855, AdmiralVasily Zavoyko, who was also military governor of Petropavlovsk, surveyedPallada and declared her unfit for active service. She was left under a skeleton crew until January 1856, until orders were received to scrap her in January 1856.
As the ship was only at a depth of 20 meters, it was common for Russian, and later Japanese, divers to retrieve small items from the sunken vessel as souvenirs.
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