in diameter, and armed with four 11-inch guns on 7 June. This ironclad was estimated to cost 4.14 million rubles, more than the total cost of the entire programme, and Popov was forced to scale down his design. On 24 October, the Tsar approved his design for a ship in diameter, armed with two 11-inch guns, and protected by of armour. It was estimated to cost 1.94 million roubles per ship and the total cost of the programme, including improvements to the shipyards, would cost 8.5 million rubles. For further testing, the Kambala (Flounder), a circular ship in diameter, was built in 1871. Equipped with two engines producing a total of 3,360 nominal horsepower, her trials during that summer were considered a success. Description While under construction, Popov's design was modified by the addition of wood and copper sheathing to reduce biofouling, which increased Novgorods diameter to . She had a maximum draught of and displaced at normal load. Freeboard was only and the deck curved upwards to the gun barbette in the center. The ship had an unarmoured superstructure forward of the barbette that housed some of the crew's quarters. Despite initial concerns about her sea-keeping ability, Novgorod was a stable gun platform and had an easy roll that rarely exceeded 7–8°. Her bluff hull form meant that she lost speed in heavy weather and, on one occasion in 1877, lost all headway during a Force eight storm. In some conditions the ship could pitch enough to lift her propellers out of the water. The biggest drawback to her hull shape was that it greatly reduced the rudder's ability to turn the ship by masking much of the flow of water so much that it took 40–45 minutes to make a full circle and the ship was almost unsteerable in a severe storm. The solution adopted was to use the engines for steering and leave the rudder fixed, even though this reduced the ship's speed. She had a crew of 151 officers and ratings. The ship had six horizontal compound-expansion steam engines built by the Baird Works, each driving a single propeller, using steam provided by eight cylindrical boilers. The engines produced a total of which gave her a speed of around . Novgorods propulsion machinery proved problematic throughout her life as a result of defective workmanship and poor-quality materials. Her blunt hull form was not conducive to efficient