Savarona: 136m superyacht owned by American heiress and Turkey's president back on the water

7 August 2024 • Written by Dea Jusufi

The 135.9-metre Blohm & Voss superyacht Savarona is back on the water following a multi-year refit and recommissioning project at Istanbul Shipyard Command. The refit was conducted under the stewardship of the Turkish naval forces and officially began in September 2019.

Savarona has lived most of her life in the spotlight. She was commissioned in 1931 by American heiress Emily Roebling Cadwalader – the granddaughter of the engineer behind the Brooklyn Bridge – and acquired by the Turkish government in 1938 as a gift for its president, Kemal Atatürk.

Following the president's death, Savarona was renamed Gunes Dil and used as a naval training ship until she was decommissioned by a major fire at the Turkish Naval Academy in 1979. She lay damaged and virtually abandoned until 1989, when the yacht was leased by Turkish businessperson Kahraman Sadıkoğlu who rebuilt her and used her as a charter yacht until 2013.

Unfortunately, a major "modernisation" refit in the 1990s had left Savarona riddled with asbestos, particularly in the ship's coatings, electrical circuits and insulation. The electrical cables and pipe circuits used on the ship were also found to be non-standard.

The refit by Istanbul Shipyard Command has addressed these issues, fixed cracks that had formed in the hull of the ship and overhauled her Caterpillar diesel engines, which had been installed by Sadıkoğlu to replace the original steam turbines.

Several "historical materials" preserved from the president were also removed and temporarily kept in Istanbul's Naval Museum, while fixtures from the yacht itself were moved to the Naval Academy Command warehouse.

Savarona was designed by Gibbs & Cox, the largest independent naval architecture and marine engineering firm in the US

Savarona will now be used as a training ship by students at the Turkish Naval Academy.

Earlier this week, the yacht was spotted while moored in a restricted area of the Pendik Naval Shipyard in Istanbul, Turkey by a member of the BOAT International team.

Another presidential yacht hit the headlines recently, with the news that Honey Fitz was newly available for charter. The 28.3-metre yacht has been used by five US presidents and was particularly favoured by John F. Kennedy.