Later, she served as part of the Russian Baltic Fleet during World War I. Diana was the second of the three vessels in the Pallada class, built at the Admiralty Shipyard in St Petersburg, Russia.

The ships departed Kronstadt on 17 October 1902, but the journey involved a number of difficulties due to inclement weather, mechanical failures and the consumption of more coal than originally anticipated.

After numerous stops of refueling, the ships reached Nagasaki on 8 April 1903, where they rendezvoused with Askold, where she was placed at the disposal of Russian envoy A. Pavlov for his negotiations between the governments of Korea and Japan.

Diana was damaged near her waterline during attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy on Port Arthur on the morning of 9 February 1904, by the cruiser squadron commanded by Admiral Dewa Shigeto, but was repaired in a few days.

In the sortie led by Admiral Stepan Makarov on 13 April 1904, Diana was immediately behind the flagship Petropavlovsk when the battleship struck three naval mines and exploded and sank.

The cruiser squadron was at the rear end of the line of battle and escaped major damage, although Diana was hit several times and had 10 crewmen killed and 11 wounded while covering the retreat of the bulk of the Russian fleet back to Port Arthur.

However, Captain Prince Alexander Lieven had previously disagreed with Admiral Reitsenstein over the choice of Vladivostok, citing its inadequate coal supplies, and decided to make a run towards the south instead.