The submarine was fabricated in Canada, shipped to Russia and reassembled for service with the Black Sea Fleet.

Her reassembly was completed in 1919 by the White Movement during the Russian Civil War, and she joined Wrangel's fleet as it evacuated the Crimea in 1920 and was interned in Bizerte, Tunisia in 1921.

The AG-class submarines had a diving depth of 164 feet (50.0 m) and a crew of 30 officers and enlisted men.

[2] Steel for the first three submarines (AG-21, AG-22, and AG-23) of the second batch ordered by the Russians was assembled in Saint John, New Brunswick by May 1916.

By this time, Nikolaev was controlled by the Whites and they took AG-22 with them when they evacuated the Crimea in late 1920 as part of what came to be called Wrangel's Fleet.