The ship was completed after the start of the Russo-Japanese War in February 1904 and was assigned to the Second Pacific Squadron sent to the Far East six months later to break the Japanese blockade of Port Arthur.

The Borodino-class ships were based on the design of the French-built Tsesarevich, modified to suit Russian equipment and building practices.

Oryol's engines, however, only achieved 14,176 indicated horsepower (10,571 kW) during her official machinery trials on 10 September 1904, although the ship was able to reach her designed speed.

She carried enough coal to allow her to steam for 2,590 nautical miles (4,800 km; 2,980 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[3] The Borodinos' main battery consisted of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns mounted in two twin-gun turrets, one forward and one aft of the superstructure.

The secondary armament consisted of 12 Canet 6-inch (152 mm) quick-firing (QF) guns, mounted in twin-gun turrets.

[6] While fitting out in Kronstadt in May 1904 in preparation for the installation of her armor, some temporary sheathing was removed that allowed water to enter and sank the ship five days later.

[9] On 15 October 1904, Oryol set sail for Port Arthur from Libau along with the other vessels of the Second Pacific Squadron, under the overall command of Vice Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky.

[11] Rozhestvensky decided to take the most direct route to Vladivostok using the Tsushima Strait and was intercepted by the Japanese battlefleet under the command of Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō on 27 May 1905.

At the beginning of the battle, Oryol was the last ship in line of the 1st Division, which consisted of all four Borodino-class battleships under Rozhestvensky's direct command.

[12] Oryol was not heavily engaged during the early part of the battle, but she was set on fire by Japanese shells during this time.

[14] Oryol took the lead after Borodino was sunk; she was joined by Nebogatov's Second Division after Tōgō ordered the Japanese battleships to disengage in the gathering darkness.

[16] As Oryol followed the First Division of the Combined Fleet back to Japan after the battle, she developed a list to starboard and her engines began to fail.

Escorted (and occasionally towed) by the battleship Asahi and the armored cruiser Asama, she was diverted to Maizuru Naval Arsenal for emergency repairs that lasted until 29 July.

[16] Shortly after the start of World War I in 1914, Iwami was assigned to the 2nd Division of the 2nd Fleet, formed from captured Russian ships.

She was assigned to the 5th Division of the 3rd Fleet on 7 January 1918[21] as its flagship and landed a company of marines in Vladivostok five days later at the start of the Japanese intervention in Siberia during the Russian Civil War.