Consideration was given to replacing them with quick-firing 152 mm guns (with eleven in a broadside), but it was not done due to the limited resources of Russian industry before the war with Japan.

As well as steam engines, Nakhimov, like Imperieuse, was initially fitted with a full brig rigging, but this proved to lack utility and was eventually removed in 1898–1899.

She was laid down at the Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg in the presence of Tsar Alexander III in July 1884, launched on 21 October 1885, and entered service on 9 September 1888.

Upon commissioning, Admiral Nakhimov was assigned to the Russian Pacific Fleet, departing Kronstadt on September 29, 1888 and arriving at Vladivostok in May 1889, where she was appointed flagship.

In 1980, controversial Japanese businessman Ryōichi Sasakawa claimed to have salvaged the wreckage of Admiral Nakhimov over the strong protests of the Soviet Government.

Sasakawa later publicized photos of what appeared to be a valuable cargo of gold bullion, platinum ingots, and British sovereigns, as well as crates of precious jewels.

Sasakawa claimed that the treasure was worth over $36 billion in modern currency, but offered to turn it over to the Soviet Union, in return for the Kuril Islands to Japan.

Sasakawa's credibility was completely ruined when it turned out that the metal shards he allegedly recovered from aboard the Admiral Nakhimov had the density of lead, but not platinum.