Pallada was named in honour of the earlier Russian cruiser captured by the Japanese during the Russo-Japanese War.

[2] On 26 August 1914, during the first month of World War I, the German light cruiser Magdeburg ran aground near the island of Odensholm in the Gulf of Finland.

Her escort, the V25-class torpedo boat SMS V-26, failed to pull her off and rescued part of the crew before Pallada and the protected cruiser Bogatyr appeared and opened fire.

A copy was later given to the British where it proved enormously helpful to Room 40 in reading German wireless traffic for much of the war.

[8] Together with the armoured cruiser Rurik, Pallada unsuccessfully searched for German ships between Bornholm and Danzig on the night of 27 August.

Less than two months later, on 11 October, Pallada was torpedoed by the German submarine SM U-26 and blew up with the loss of all hands, the first Russian warship sunk during the war.

[11] Although the wreck was severely damaged during the sinking and is now covered in silt, a number of details such as a large wooden emblem of the Russian double-headed eagle are still intact.

[12] On 6 September 2013, Helsingin Sanomat reported that the previously largely untouched wreck of Pallada had been looted.