It was laid down in July 1901 by the Baltic Works in Saint Petersburg, added to the Imperial Russian Navy list in September 1902, and launched in May 1903 before beginning sea trials in the Gulf of Finland in June 1903.

The trials were finished in October of that year and the submarine entered service, initially designated as a torpedo boat.

Despite being considered a success Delfin suffered two serious accidents early on in its career, a sinking in June 1904 and a large explosion in May 1905, with loss of life among the crew in both cases.

Delfin was sent to the Pacific during the Russo-Japanese War and patrolled the coastal area near Vladivostok in the first half of 1905 to deter Japanese attacks.

The final assignment of the submarine was serving in the role of coastal defense off Kola Bay after being transferred to the Arctic Ocean Flotilla.

[4] The submarine that was later renamed Delfin had a single hull, the outside of which was covered with teak as protection in case of grounding, and saddle tanks.

[7] Delfin's armament consisted of one machine gun and two torpedoes, each carried in a Drzewiecki drop collar.

[4] Lieutenant Mikhail Beklemishev, who worked on the construction of the submarine, became its first commanding officer and selected the crew from among volunteers who were mechanically inclined, had served well, and did not smoke.

[4] An incident occurred on 29 June 1904 when Delfin performed a training dive along a wall at the Baltic Works.

[4] The design of the submarine required the use of the main hatch to remove air from the ballast tanks, which was then to be closed at the last moment.

This caused the boat to sink, and although two officers and eight sailors were able to eventually get out and swim to the surface the other 24 men died, including Cherkasov.

[4] Delfin and the other 12 Russian submarines that were active during the war operated within 150 nautical miles of their home base and their main purpose was to use their presence to deter a Japanese attack on Vladivostok.

The gasoline tanks were being ventilated as part of a process to fix a problem with one of its other components, but while this was going on a spark from one of the crewmen on board turning on a light caused an explosion in the submarine.

[3][4] After being returned to service the boat was once again used for crew and officer training and spent over a decade stationed in the Far East,[4] being part of the submarine unit of the Siberian Flotilla in Vladivostok.

[10] In February 1916, Delfin was transferred from its base in Vladivostok to the Arctic Ocean Flotilla in Arkhangelsk,[10] being moved first by railroad and later by the Northern Dvina river.