They were reclassified as coast-defense ironclads in 1892 and Rusalka sank during a storm in the Gulf of Finland the next year with the loss of all hands.

Two ships of his simplest design were awarded to a new builder, S. G. Kudriavtsev, who was provided facilities at the state-owned Galernyi Island Shipyard.

In addition the Admiralty committed itself to furnishing the armament, armor, engines and boilers as well as a variety of smaller components for the two ships.

The monitors were fitted with three iron pole masts, probably fore-and-aft rigged, and used to steady the ship rather than for propulsion.

[3] The Charodeika class had two simple horizontal direct-acting steam engines, built by the Baird Works of Saint Petersburg.

The monitors also had a donkey boiler for the small steam engine that powered the ventilation fans and pumps.

[5] The monitors were designed to be armed with four Obukhov 9-inch (229 mm) rifled guns, a pair in each Coles-type turret.

The contract was transferred to Mitchell who completed them in 1869, two years after their scheduled delivery date for the cost of 762,000 roubles each.

In June, Charodeika ripped a 28-foot (8.5 m) long hole in her hull when she struck an uncharted rock in the Gulf of Finland and had to be deliberately run aground to prevent her sinking.

[11] Both monitors were reclassified as coast-defense ironclads on 13 February 1892 and Rusalka sank in a storm on 7 September 1893 during a voyage between Reval (Tallinn) and Helsingfors (Helsinki) with the loss of her entire crew of 177 officers and enlisted men.

[11] Rusalka's wreck was discovered on 22 July 2003 in the Gulf of Finland, 25 kilometers (13 nmi) south of Helsinki, by a joint expedition of the Estonian Maritime Museum and the commercial diving company Tuukritööde OÜ.