Savarona, one of the world's largest and most elegant motor yachts, may be turned into a museum. The Turkish Association of Travel Agents is urging business organisations to buy the ship, once Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's presidential yacht, and moor her in front of Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul. Kahraman Sadikoglu, who took the ship from the Turkish Government in 1989 on a 49-year lease, says he would be in agreement with such a project.
Savarona was built by Blöhm + Voss in Hamburg in 1931, measures 446ft overall, and was originally powered by two steam turbines. She was built for American heiress Emily Roebling Cadwallader, granddaughter of John A. Roebling, the engineer who designed the Brooklyn Bridge, but in 1938 was sold to the Turkish Government to become the presidential yacht for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
But Atatürk's ailing health meant that he was able to spend just six weeks aboard before his death in November 1938. Savarona was laid up and remained inactive until 1951 when she became a training ship for the Turkish Navy and renamed Günes Dil. Her service in this role was cut short in 1979 when she was devastated by a severe fire. Laid up and virtually abandoned for nearly ten years, she was refurbished and rebuilt by Tuzla Shipyards after being acquired by Sadikoglu.