In 1911, as a result of tensions with Turkey, the Russian State Duma approved a shipbuilding programme aimed at strengthening the Black Sea Fleet, with three battleships, nine destroyers and six submarines to be built by 1915.

[8] They were soon pressed into action, and on the evening of 5 November, Bespokoiny and sister ships Derzki, Gnevny and Pronzitelny laid mines to the north west of the entrance to the Bosphorus.

[11][12] On 23–24 December 1914, Bespokoiny, Derzki, Gnevny and Pronzitelny were supporting operations by the Black Sea Fleet to lay mines and block the port of Zonguldak with blockships.

On 10 December, Bespokoiny, Derzki and Gnevny caught two Turkish gunboats, Taşköprü and Yozgat, which had been sent to salvage material from the wreck of UC-13, and sank them in the Battle of Kirpen Island.

[19] On 14 April, Bespokoiny, Derzki and Pronzitelny operated in support of the Russian offensive against Trabzon, claiming 58 sailing ships carrying supplies to the Turkish army sunk.

[23][24] On 22 July, Bespokoiny, Schastlivy, Derzki, Gnevny and Pylki accompanied the battleship Imperatritsa Mariya and Kagul in an attempt to intercept Breslau, which intelligence had warned was on a minelaying sortie in the Black Sea.

Eventually, Breslau drew away from the Russian force, and the five destroyers were ordered to continue to follow the German ship, and deliver a torpedo attack under cover of darkness.

[5][12] While an Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers was signed in December 1917, Germans forces advanced deep into Ukraine following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, and on 12 May 1918, Bespokoiny left Sevastopol for Novorossiysk with much of the Black Sea Fleet.

[32] On 1 October 1918, Germany seized control of Bespokoiny and a number of other warships, with the intention of commissioning them into the German Navy, but the end of the war brought a halt to these plans.

[36] Following this evacuation, Bespokoiny operated in the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov, carrying out patrols, escorting food transports and supporting the troops of the Armed Forces of South Russia.

[37][35] On 14 November 1920, Bespokoiny left Sevastopol as part of the final Evacuation of the Crimea, passing via Istanbul to Bizerte where the ship was interned by the French on 29 December 1920.