Dvenadsat Apostolov was originally ordered as one of a pair of battleships for the Black Sea Fleet, but the second ship was awarded to a firm on the verge of bankruptcy and they made no significant progress.

Her initial armament was planned to be eight 9-inch (229 mm) guns, four in two twin-gun turrets and the remainder in the central casemate.

[2] Her hull form was generally similar to that of the Imperator Aleksandr II class although her ram was 4 feet (1.2 m) longer.

The hull was subdivided by eleven transverse and one centerline longitudinal watertight bulkheads and she had a complete double bottom 35.4 inches (900 mm) deep.

Dvenadsat Apostolov demonstrated better seakeeping qualities than the older Ekaterina II class during a storm in October 1894, although she rolled badly and leaked through her ports and hatches.

[3] Naval historian N. J. M. Campbell assessed her as a considerably better fighting ship than the Imperator Aleksandr II class.

[4] Dvenadsat Apostolov had a pair of three-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines built by the Baltic Works and had a total designed output of 8,500 indicated horsepower (6,338 kW).

She carried 710 long tons (720 t) of coal at full load that provided a range of 1,900 nautical miles (3,500 km; 2,200 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[9] For defense against torpedo boats, the ship was fitted with a dozen 47-millimeter (1.9 in) Hotchkiss guns mounted in embrasures in the hull or superstructure.

[10] Two 5-barrel 37-millimeter (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolving cannon were mounted at the forward end of the superstructure and two others on the platform just abaft the second funnel.

[12] In 1895 Dvenadsat Apostolov was used to test a new system of laying mines by rails that had been invented by Lieutenant A. P. Ygrumov and also to evaluate the proper dimensions for anti-torpedo nets and their booms.

[14] Dvenadsat Apostolov participated in the failed attempt to recapture the mutinous battleship Potemkin on 30 June 1905.

[15] The Sevastopol Port Authority proposed to reboiler her in 1904 with new Belleville boilers, but this was forestalled by a plan to reuse those of the battleship Chesma.

This was estimated to cost 1,275,000 roubles and would only add 15 long tons (15 t) to her displacement, but the proposal was rejected by the Naval Technical Committee which believed it was a waste of money given her obsolete layout.

The General Staff made another proposal in 1909 to rearm her with smaller guns as a guardship intended to defend Sevastopol from attacks by enemy light forces.