The ship saw combat during the Crimean War at the Battle of Sinop in 1853, where the Russian shell guns proved to be decisive.

The power vacuum created increased the risk of future conflicts with Britain and France, so the Russian government ordered a series of 84-gun ships of the line to prepare the fleet.

[2] Built by I. S. Dimitriev in Nikolaev for the Black Sea Fleet, Rostislav was laid down on 16 May 1843 and was launched on 1 November 1844.

In October 1853, after the outbreak of the Crimean War between Russia and the Ottoman Empire that month, she carried a contingent of 943 soldiers to Sukhumi.

[2] Rostislav then re-joined a squadron commanded by Vice Admiral Pavel Nakhimov to take part in the Battle of Sinop on 30 November (N.S.

France and Britain issued an ultimatum to Russia to withdraw its forces from Rumelia, the Ottoman territories in the Balkans, which the Russians initially ignored, prompting Anglo-French declarations of war in March 1854.

She remained trapped there during the Siege of Sevastopol into early 1855; during this period, the Russians disarmed their ships to strengthen the land defenses of the city and then scuttled them to block the harbor from the Anglo-French fleet.