The class, composed of three boats (Karp, Kambala, Karas) were ordered in the 1904 emergency programme as a result of the Russo-Japanese War.

The boats were delivered late for the war and transferred to the Black Sea Fleet by rail in 1908.

The Karp class was of a twin-hulled design produced by Raimundo Lorenzo de Equevilley Montjustín [de] that had a surface displacement of 210 tonnes (207 long tons) and were 239 t (235 long tons) submerged.

Kerosene was chosen over gasoline as the fuel choice due to its better safety record.

The Karp class was only delivered to Russia in 1907, with the commissioning ceremony held at Kiel attended by Prince Dolgorukov.

[1][3] Further issues arose for the class when it was found that the rail deconstruction feature led to corrosion.

After joining the Black Sea Fleet, all three submarines of the Karp class were made part of a training squadron based at Sevastopol.

[1] After Romania's entry into the war on the side of the Allies, the submarines were based at Constanța in August 1916.

The submarines remained at Sevastopol during the Russian Civil War until 26 April 1919, when they were scuttled to prevent their capture by the Soviets.