Konstantin

(Grand Duke Constantine), a merchant steam-ship of the Russian Society of Navigation and Trade, which was armed and included in the Russian Black Sea Fleet before the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78.

The ship had a speed of 14 knots (26 km/hr) and was armed with one 150-mm mortar and four 9-pound guns. In 1876, in accordance with the plan of Lieutenant S. O. Makarov, who was appointed commander of the ship in 1877, the Konstantin was reequipped as a base for four mine cutters armed with towed and pole mines. During the war, mine attacks by the Konstantin and her cutters sank one steamship and damaged a Turkish armor-clad. The actions of the Konstantin and her cutters paved the way for new tactics using military ships with mines (later with torpedoes).