En route to the White Sea in early 1917, she sank off Port Said, Egypt, after striking mines laid by a German submarine.

She carried a maximum of 2,060 long tons (2,090 t) of coal, which allowed her to steam for 6,200 nautical miles (11,500 km; 7,100 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[2] The ship's main battery consisted of four 10-inch (254 mm) guns mounted in two twin-gun turrets, one forward and one aft of the superstructure.

The secondary armament consisted of eleven Canet 6-inch (152 mm) quick-firing (QF) guns, mounted in casemates on the sides of the hull and in the bow, underneath the forecastle.

[8] En route, she ran aground on the tip of Langeland Island while passing through the Danish Great Belt on 1 November, but was apparently not seriously damaged.

Japan had begun negotiations to ease the situation in 1901, but the Russian government was slow and uncertain in its replies because it had not yet decided exactly how to resolve the problems.

The Pacific Squadron began mooring in the outer harbor at night as tensions with Japan increased, in order to react more quickly to any Japanese attempt to land troops in Korea.

Peresvet was not hit by the initial torpedo-boat incursion and sortied the following morning when the Combined Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, attacked.

Tōgō chose to attack the Russian coastal defenses with his main armament and engage the ships with his secondary guns.

[7] On 22 March, Peresvet joined several other battleships firing indirectly at Japanese ships bombarding Port Arthur's harbor.

Peresvet participated in the action of 13 April, when Tōgō successfully lured out a portion of the Pacific Squadron, including Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov's flagship, the battleship Petropavlovsk.

[15] The Japanese bombardment, coupled with a direct order from Tsar Nicholas II, forced Vitgeft to make an attempt to reach Vladivostok.

Around 18:00 her topmasts were destroyed and two 12-inch shells from the battleship Asahi penetrated the conning tower of the Russian flagship Tsesarevich, killing Vitgeft and the helmsman, severely wounding the captain, and causing the ship to come to a dead stop after executing a sharp turn.

Her forward 10-inch turret was knocked out and several hits near the waterline caused flooding; compartments of the double bottom had to be counterflooded to restore some of her stability.

[15] Returning to Port Arthur on 11 August, the Russian squadron found the city still under siege by the Japanese Third Army led by Baron Nogi Maresuke.

On 2 October she was hit by nine 11-inch (280 mm) shells that failed to penetrate her deck armor, but did considerable damage to the unprotected portions of the ship.

This allowed the Imperial Japanese Army's siege guns to fire directly at the Russian ships and they hit Peresvet many times.

The Russians scuttled her in shallow water on 7 December 1904 without, however, seriously damaging her, possibly in the hope of fooling the Japanese into switching targets.

On 4 January 1917, about 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) north of the harbor, the ship struck two mines that had been laid by the German submarine SM U-73.