Rurik was the last armored cruiser to be built for the Imperial Russian Navy. The ship was designed by the British firm Vickers and built in their shipyard, being laid down in and completed in Despite her powerful gun armament, Rurik was rendered obsolescent even before she was completed by the advent of the British battlecruisers of the Invincible class , which were more powerfully armed and faster.
Her design is nevertheless well regarded and naval historians rate her as one of the best vessels of her type ever built.
Rurik served as the flagship of the Russian Baltic Fleet for much of her relatively short career. She made one overseas cruise with a trip to the Mediterranean Sea in mid, but spent the rest of her early career in the Baltic Sea.
After the start of World War I , she operated with the other cruisers of the fleet, making raids on German positions in the southern Baltic, and after being modified to carry naval mines , took part in laying offensive minefields to block German naval traffic. There, she engaged three German cruisers; she failed to score any hits and was struck several times, though she was not seriously damaged and her presence convinced the Germans to retreat.
The ship was badly damaged by a German mine in November and spent the next several months under repair. During that period out of service, the Russian Revolution toppled the Imperial government and ultimately led to the Bolshevik seizure of power late that year.
