The ship's construction was greatly delayed by design changes as a result of the Russo-Japanese War and labor unrest after the 1905 Revolution, and she took nearly six years to build.

Andrei Pervozvanny was not very active during World War I and her bored sailors joined the general mutiny of the Baltic Fleet in early 1917.

[1] Andrei Pervozvanny was equipped with two 4-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines with a total designed output of 17,600 indicated horsepower (13,100 kW).

[2] The main armament of the Andrei Pervozvanny class consisted of two pairs of 12-inch (305 mm) Model 1895 guns mounted in twin-gun turrets fore and aft of the superstructure.

[3] Based on the Russian experience at the Battle of Tsushima, the sides of the ship's hull were completely protected by Krupp cemented armor.

[6] Andrei Pervozvanny was mostly inactive during the war as the Russian naval strategy in the Baltic was defensive and they did not intend to seek out the German fleet.

[7] After the October Revolution in 1918, the ship remained on active duty as part of the Red Navy during the Russian Civil War.

Between 13 and 15 June 1919, Andrei Pervozvanny and the dreadnought Petropavlovsk bombarded Fort Krasnaya Gorka whose garrison had mutinied against the Bolsheviks.

The ship fired 170 12-inch and 408 8-inch shells[10] and the garrison surrendered on 17 June when Leon Trotsky promised them their lives, only to order them machine-gunned.

The Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military decoration, was awarded to Commander Claude Congreve Dobson and Lieutenant Gordon Charles Steele for their successful attack.