This page was created by James Browning.
Moving Forward
Further investigations by the admiralty into sources of wood and depth readings along the Dnepr continued to favor Aleksandr-Shantsy and by the end of 1777, the admiralty had decided to allocate 47,722 rubles for the construction of temporary stores, workshops, and slipways for three ships near the fortress. The admiralty further suggested that the wood sent to Kiev for the construction of three ships and to Mogilev for the construction of two be diverted instead to Aleksandr-Shantsy to expedite the construction process. Catherine II initially supported the operation, appointing Prince Potemkin to oversee the construction and further expanding it in the spring of 1778 with the precise allocation of 104,979 rubles and 83½ kopeks for the construction of six slipways near Alexandr-Shantsy. She later balked at the expense, however, and announced that allocating such a sum toward temporary constructions would result only in structures that were intended to fall apart and lead to a “fruitless waste of money.”