The first boat, Kasatka, experienced significant problems with stability on trials and had to have extra flotation added.

[2][3] Initially the design called for a three-shaft propulsion system, but due to the increased hostilities with the Empire of Japan, the submarines were completed with only the one shaft-design.

The class was armed with four torpedoes carried externally in Drzewiecki drop collars and one machine gun.

[2] Due to the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, construction was accelerated on the submarines and only Kasatka ran sea trials.

[3][4] During trials, Kasatka had trouble during operation of the ballast tanks, steering gear and water entered the submarine through the main hatch when submerged.

Kasatka was then transferred to Vladivostok by rail, followed by the rest between September and December 1904 with the exception of Makrel and Okun.

In August, the two submarines were ordered to the Gulf of Riga as part of the Russian attempt to defend against the German High Seas Fleet's movements in the area.

After the entry of the Romania into the war on the side of the Allies in 1916, Nalim and Skat were based at Batumi but remained relatively inactive.

Kasatka and Feldmarshal General Sheremetev transferred to Arkhangelsk in 1915 and 1916 respectively, arriving via inland waterways.

After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed ending the Russian participation in World War I, they briefly flew the flag of the Ukrainian State before the Germans seized Nalim and Skat.

[2][3] The two subs were later scuttled by the British at Sevastopol to prevent their capture by the Soviets during the Russian Civil War.