The Admiral Spiridovs were stricken from the Navy List in 1907; one ship became a stationary target and the other a coal-storage barge.

By late 1863, the Russian Admiralty Board had begun planning for the second generation of ironclads to succeed those ships then under construction.

The British shipbuilder Charles Mitchell submitted four different designs for the coastal defense vessels, two broadside ironclads and two turret ships.

The additional weight was offset by increasing the height of the hull by 12 inches (305 mm) which also deepened the ships' draft.

The second change occurred after new 8-inch (203 mm) rifled guns were able to penetrate a replica of the armor scheme in June 1866.

[3] The Admiral Spiridov-class monitors were significantly larger than their predecessors, the Charodeika class, and were 254 feet (77.4 m) long at the waterline.

The engine was designed to produce a total of 2,000 indicated horsepower (1,500 kW) which gave the ships speeds between 9.1–9.5 knots (16.9–17.6 km/h; 10.5–10.9 mph) when they ran their initial sea trials in 1869.

The Admiral Spiridov class carried 280 long tons (284 t) of coal which gave them a range of about 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km; 1,600 mi) at a speed of 10 knots.

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 a 9-inch mortar was fitted to attack the thin deck armor of enemy ships, but accuracy was poor and they were later removed, probably in the early 1880s.

[9] After launching, the sisters were transferred to Kronstadt for fitting out as the shallow waters around Saint Petersburg prevented deep-draft ships from being completed.

While not damaged in the incident, she was very firmly stuck and early attempts to pull her off failed, during which one seaman was killed and an officer badly wounded.

Admiral Chichagov served as the flagship for Captain 1st Rank Stepan Makarov during the 1885 naval maneuvers in the approaches to the Gulf of Riga and her boilers were replaced in two years later.

By this time, their role in Russian war plans was to defend the Gulf of Riga against an anticipated German amphibious landing.