General-Admiral was the lead ship of her class of armored cruisers built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the early 1870s.

The iron-hulled ship was not fitted with a ram and her crew numbered approximately 482 officers and men.

[2] The ship had a vertical compound steam engine driving a single two-bladed 6.25-meter (20 ft 6 in) propeller.

The engine produced 4,772 indicated horsepower (3,558 kW) during sea trials which gave the ship a maximum speed around 12.3 knots (22.8 km/h; 14.2 mph).

General-Admiral carried a maximum of 1,000 long tons (1,000 t) of coal which gave her an economical range of 5,900 nautical miles (10,900 km; 6,800 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).