Rear Admiral (since 1873 Vice Admiral) Andrei Aleksandrovich Popov, enjoying the trust of the Admiral General, unofficially carried out the functions of the general designer of the country's navy. This talented and energetic man, a competent sailor and shipbuilder, managed, relying on assistants he had selected, to realize most of his ideas incorporated into the designs of ships of various purposes, including: the ocean-going armored cruiser "General Admiral", the seaworthy battleship "Peter" Velikiy" and, finally, round ships: the battleships "Novgorod" and "Vice Admiral Popov", the royal yacht "Livadia". The debate surrounding the merits of these round ships, which had no analogues in foreign fleets, continues to this day. It will be all the more interesting for the reader to get acquainted with the factual side of the history of the creation of these ships, presented based on materials from the Russian State Archive of the Navy (RGA Navy).