In short
Savarona is a 135.94-metre motor yacht that Blohm & Voss in Hamburg delivered in 1931 for the American heiress Emily Roebling Cadwalader, granddaughter of the engineer behind the Brooklyn Bridge; at about $4 million she was then the largest and most expensive private yacht yet built (Boat International, October 2026). The Turkish state bought her in 1938 for its founding president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who held cabinet meetings and received foreign heads of state on board during his last summer (Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Türkiye, Anadolu Agency, August 2025). She later served the Turkish Navy as the training ship Güneş Dil until a fire in 1979, was rebuilt between 1989 and 1992 and chartered privately until 2013 (Yachts International, 2012; Boat International, August 2024). After a refit at Istanbul Shipyard Command that removed asbestos and repaired hull cracks, she returned to the water in 2024 as a training ship for Turkish Naval Academy cadets; Boat International ranks her second on its list of the largest classic yachts, after El Mahrousa (Boat International, Boat International).
Videos
Three tours from YouTube, most viewed first.
Photos
Further reading
Independent coverage we found. We link to it rather than rewrite it.
- Boat International · FeatureThe women behind Sea Cloud and Savarona: The heiresses who built yachting history23 Oct 2026
- Boat International · FeaturePresidential yachts: Inside the superyachts owned by world leaders4 Nov 2024
- Boat International · NewsSavarona: 136m superyacht owned by American heiress and Turkey's president back on the water7 Aug 2024
- Boat International · FeatureThe top 10 largest classic yachts in the world15 Apr 2021
- Hürriyet Daily News · NewsErdoğan uses Atatürk's yacht for first time to host Bosnian leader5 Mar 2015
- Yachts International · Feature9: Savarona18 Jun 2012
Specifications
- Length overall
- 135.94 m (446 ft), including the bowsprit 134 m in some sources
- Beam
- 16.12 m
- Draught
- 6.25 m (maximum) 6.1 m per the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism
- Gross tonnage
- 4,701 4,581 as built in 1931
- Shipyard
- Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, Germany
- Delivered
- 1931
- Design and naval architecture
- Gibbs & Cox (William Francis Gibbs)
- Original interior (1931)
- Morgan Wells
- Current interior (1989–1992 rebuild)
- Donald Starkey
- Construction
- Steel hull and superstructure, teak decks
- Original propulsion
- Twin-screw steam turbines, 7,200 hp
- Engines
- 2 × Caterpillar 3608 diesels, installed in 1993
- Speed
- 18 kn max, 16 kn cruising 18.6 kn max in the 1931 figures
- Range
- 9,000 nautical miles at cruising speed
- Guests
- 34 in 17 suites 33 as built
- Crew
- 54 95 as built
- On board
- Turkish hammam spanning the full beam, swimming pool, gold-trimmed grand staircase, cinema, library suite with Atatürk's personal belongings
- Rebuilds and refits
- 1989–1992 rebuild (about $35 million, reported); 2014 restoration; 2023–2024 refit at Istanbul Shipyard Command
- Former name
- Güneş Dil (as a naval training ship)
- Flag
- Turkey
- Charter
- Chartered privately until 2013; now a naval training ship
- Owner
- Reported by Boat International (August 2024) as Turkey's state yacht, now operated by the Turkish Naval Forces as a training ship for Naval Academy cadets
Where is she now
Live AIS position on:
IMO 5314810 · MMSI 271035111
Questions
How big is the Savarona yacht?
Savarona is 135.94 metres (446 ft) long including her bowsprit, with a beam of 16.12 metres, a maximum draught of 6.25 metres and a gross tonnage of 4,701 (Boat International). She takes up to 34 guests in 17 suites with 54 crew (Boat International).
Was Savarona the largest yacht in the world?
When she was delivered in 1931 she was the world's largest motor yacht and the largest and most expensive private yacht yet built (Boat International, October 2026). Only the royal yachts Victoria and Albert (UK) and Savoia (Italy) were longer at the time (Yachts International, 2012). Today Boat International ranks her second among the largest classic yachts, after El Mahrousa (Boat International).
What is Savarona's connection to Atatürk?
The Turkish government bought her in 1938 as the presidential yacht of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; the Turkish flag was raised in Southampton in March 1938 (Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Türkiye). She reached Istanbul on 1 June 1938, and Atatürk, already seriously ill, spent 56 days on board, holding cabinet meetings and receiving visiting heads of state, including the King of Romania (Anadolu Agency, August 2025). He died in November 1938 (Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Türkiye).
What is Savarona used for today?
After a refit at Istanbul Shipyard Command she returned to the water in 2024 and serves as a training ship for Turkish Naval Academy cadets (Boat International, August 2024). The work removed asbestos left by a 1990s refit, repaired hull cracks and overhauled her Caterpillar diesel engines (Boat International). On 24 August 2025 she sailed through the Bosphorus in a naval parade with the navy's largest warship, TCG Anadolu, and seven other naval vessels (Anadolu Agency; NTV, August 2025).
Can you charter Savarona?
Not today. From 1989 a Turkish businessman leased her, rebuilt her and ran her as a charter yacht until 2013 (Boat International, August 2024). The state then took her back, hosted a foreign leader on board for the first time in March 2015 and has since handed her to the navy as a training ship (Hürriyet Daily News, March 2015; Anadolu Agency, December 2023).
How much did Savarona cost to build?
About $4 million in 1931, according to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and to Boat International, which notes that estimates at the time ranged from $2 million to $4 million and that $4 million is the more likely figure (Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Türkiye, Boat International, October 2026).
Compare with
Other state yachts and Blohm & Voss builds in the registry.
El Mahrousa
150.57 m Samuda Brothers steam yacht, delivered 1865
Prince Abdulaziz
147 m Helsingør Værft motor yacht, delivered 1984
Eclipse
162.5 m Blohm+Voss motor yacht, delivered 2010
Sources (13)
- Boat International, Superyacht Directory: Savarona
- Boat International, The women behind Sea Cloud and Savarona: The heiresses who built yachting history (Cecile Gauert) 23 Oct 2026
- Boat International, Savarona: 136m superyacht owned by American heiress and Turkey's president back on the water 7 Aug 2024
- Boat International, Presidential yachts: Inside the superyachts owned by world leaders 4 Nov 2024
- Boat International, The top 10 largest classic yachts in the world 15 Apr 2021
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Türkiye, Savarona
- Yachts International, 9: Savarona 18 Jun 2012
- Hürriyet (Anadolu Agency), Atatürk'ün yatı 'Savarona' kullanıma hazır (in Turkish) 23 Aug 2014
- Hürriyet Daily News, Erdoğan uses Atatürk's yacht for first time to host Bosnian leader 5 Mar 2015
- Habertürk (Anadolu Agency), Atatürk'ün yatı Savarona'da asbest tespit edildi (in Turkish) 6 Dec 2023
- Habertürk (Anadolu Agency), Atatürk'ün manevi mirası 'Savarona' İstanbul Boğazı'nı selamlayacak (in Turkish) 22 Aug 2025
- VesselFinder, TCG Savarona (IMO 5314810)
- NTV, Büyük gurur: Mavi Vatan'ın Muhafızları İstanbul Boğazı'nda (in Turkish) 24 Aug 2025