In November 1914, two modern Ottoman warships, specifically a light cruiser and a battlecruiser, engaged a Russian fleet including five obsolescent pre-dreadnought battleships in a short action.

On the morning of 17 November 1914, a Russian force consisting of the pre-dreadnought battleships Evstafi (the flagship), Ioann Zlatoust, Panteleimon, Tri Sviatitelya, Rostislav, three cruisers, and 13 destroyers under Vice Admiral Andrei Eberhardt struck the Ottoman port of Trebizond.

At 13:00 the Ottoman battlecruiser Yavuz Sultan Selim and the light cruiser Midilli sortied from the Bosporus for Sebastopol at high speed.

[7] At 12:20 Evstafi, with a clear view of the Ottomans, opened fire on Yavuz, striking and disabling the third starboard 15 cm (5.9 in) casemated gun with its first salvo.

[5] The Russian battleships were using a new form of fire-control system that had been devised in the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War, with Ioann Zlatoust directing for all other ships except Rostislav, which had a different main armament.

[4] As a result of the ammunition detonation near the battlecruiser's 5.9-inch gun, the Ottomans decided to decrease the amount of ready-to-use shells and cartridges in the casemates.

They also concluded that only a handful of their newest destroyers were suitable for independent operations in the Black Sea, as their cruisers were too obsolete to wield successfully against the Ottoman battlecruiser.