The ship served in the Russian Black Sea Fleet during the First World War, passing to control of the Bolsheviks following the October Revolution but was scuttled on 18 June 1918 to avoid capture by German troops.

The Leytenant Shestakov class was developed to meet a requirement for larger destroyers for the Black Sea Fleet based on experience of the Russo-Japanese War.

Four coal-fired Normand boilers were fitted, feeding two triple expansion steam engines rated at 6,500 ihp (4,800 kW), which gave a design speed of 25 kn (29 mph; 46 km/h).

[1][3] Early on 8 January 1916, Leytenant Shestakov and the destroyer Pronzitelny sank the 4,400-gross register ton (GRT) collier Carmen, on passage to Zonguldak to load coal, off Kirpen island.

Later that day, the Turkish battlecruiser Yavûz Sultân Selîm,[a] which had been tasked to cover Carmen as the collier arrived at Zonguldak, spotted the two destroyers and set off in pursuit.