Andrei Alexandrovich Popov Andrei Alexandrovich Popov ( ) ( 21 September 1821 - 6 March 1898 ) was an officer of the Imperial Russian Navy , who saw action during the Crimean War , and became a noted naval designer . Popov trained for the navy , and commanded ships before and during the Crimean War . He rose to the rank of rear - admiral and was assigned to supervise warship design and construction . He was in command of a squadron in the Pacific during the Polish Crisis that followed the January Uprising in 1863 , and was sent to North America on a goodwill mission , and in order to raid colonial possessions should war break out between Russia and other European powers . Though there was no war , Popov spent a year in San Francisco , where the Russian presence had a distinct impact on life . Popov turned to warship design after his return to Russia , and proposed a series of warships to an unconventional circular design . Only two were built , one of which , " Rear Admiral Popov " , was named in honour of him . Their radical designs proved troublesome , and were not repeated . Early life . Popov was born in Russia on 21 September 1821 , and attended the Naval School . He entered the navy after graduating , and rose to command the cruiser " Meteor " . He commanded a steamship during the Crimean War and was appointed Manager of Artillery Supplies at Sevastopol . When the war ended Popov was appointed to supervise the construction of steamships for the Russian Navy , a post he held for the next 30 years . The period saw a large expansion in naval construction , with Popov overseeing new Russian warships being built at St Petersburg , such as the 9 , 000 ton battleship " Petr Velikyy " . Pacific and San Francisco . Popov also served at sea , and by 1863 he was commanding a squadron of Russian warships in the Pacific . The American Civil War was being fought at this time , and there were good relations between Russia and the Union . In turn the Union supported Russia over the January Uprising , and in July 1863 a squadron of seven warships under Rear - Admiral Stepan Lesovskii were ordered to sail from St Petersburg to New York , where they arrived on 24 September . Popov was also despatched to America , and arrived in San Francisco in October with six ships , the corvette s " Bogatyr " , " Kalavela " , " Rynda " and " Novik " , and the clippers " Abrek " and " Gaidamak " . Popov had been in correspondence with the director of the Ministry of Navy , Nikolay Karlovich Krabbe , concerning the threat of war with other European powers over the Polish crisis . Popov had advised Krabbe that his squadron would be best positioned in San Francisco due to its good communication links , and would sail from there to raid British and French colonial possession in the event of war . War never came , though Popov remained at San Francisco until 1864 , where he may have been influential in establishing the first permanent Eastern Orthodox parish in the city , and contributed furnishings and equipment to the Russian community in the city . During the Russian squadron ' s stay in the city , a fire broke out in the wharves , which 200 Russian sailors volunteered to help fight , with possibly six of them losing their lives in doing so . The city council unanimously adopted a resolution on 26 October 1863 thanking Popov and a number of his officers for their help in fighting the fire , and gold medals were awarded . Popov also declared in either late 1863 or early 1864 that he was prepared to defend the city if it was attacked by Confederate forces . The declaration was greeted with enthusiasm by the city ' s population , though Eduard de Stoeckl , the Russian ambassador , urged Popov to be cautious and not to aggravate the situation . Deterred by Popov ' s announcement , and the presence of the Russian squadron , Confederate raiders did not risk attacking the port . Unconventional designs . Russia had been banned from maintaining a battlefleet in the Black Sea after the end of the Crimean War . Fearful of further naval incursions , Russia wanted a fleet of heavily armed shallow - draught coastal defence vessels to guard the Kerch Straits and the mouth of the Dniepr River . Popov built a 24 - foot steamer and carried out tests in 1870 , subsequently proposing a fleet of ten large circular coastal defence vessels . Their circular design would create a stable gun platform suitable for operations in the shallow water of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov , and they were armed with two 11 - inch guns . The expense involved meant that only two were built , the " Novgorod " and the " Kiev " . The " Kiev " was renamed " Rear Admiral Popov " in honour of her designer after being laid down . The unconventional designs received support from the British naval architect Sir Edward Reed , but failed to live up to expectations . Though heavily armoured , they were too slow to operate in the Dniepr , and were difficult to steer . Firing their guns caused them to spin round , even with the rudder hard over and contra - rotating some of their six propellers . They could not cope with rough weather and were prone to rolling and pitching , which prevented the aiming and loading of the guns . Though they were judged failures , the circular hull design , tempered with a conventional bow and stern , was repeated in the design of the Russian imperial yacht " Livadia " with greater success . She proved to be comfortable and a good seakeeper . The two battleships and " Livadia " were christened ' Popovki ' , by Imperial decree . Popov ' s involvement with warship design and construction led to him being made an honorary associate of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects , in London . He died in Russia on 6 March 1898 .