Overall, out of the 25 Pernov-class torpedo boats, four were sunk in combat or in accidents while the remainder were retired and scrapped.

[1][2] The Pernov class was ordered by the Ministry of the Navy after a five-year naval armament program passed in 1890 authorized the construction of 50 torpedo boats with a displacement of 120 tons.

At that time, Russia did not have any domestically built torpedo boats that the Ministry of the Navy considered promising, and the Anakria-class torpedo boat that was recently acquired from the German firm Schichau-Werke was seen as a disappointment, so on this occasion the Ministry examined designs from French and British companies.

A contract was awarded to the French company Normand on 11 January 1891 to build one boat for testing purposes.

[7] With 25 total ships completed, the Pernov-class became the most numerous large torpedo boat class in the Russian Navy.

Its crew supported the February and October Revolutions, becoming part of the Bolshevik Red Fleet, and were sent to Finland to the assist the Finnish communists.

The boat was captured by the White forces in Helsingfors, Finland, and was sent to the Soviet Union in 1922, which sold it for scrap.

208 was lost during the Russo-Japanese War on 4 September 1904 when it hit a mine near Skryplyov Island [ru], causing the death of one crewmen and five injured.

[7] During the war the Pernov-class torpedo boats in the Black Sea Fleet were use as dispatch ships and minesweepers.

[7] During the Russian Civil War, the surviving boats were captured by Germans in May 1918, by Anglo-French troops in November 1918, and by the White Guards in June 1919.