In 1941 she was reclassified as a minelayer and provided naval gunfire support and transported troops during the sieges of Odessa, Sevastopol, and the Kerch–Feodosiya operation in the winter of 1941–1942.

[2] The ship was rearmed during World War I with fourteen 55-caliber 130 mm (5.1 in) B7 Pattern 1913 guns in single mounts, four of which were positioned in casemates.

Pamiat' Merkuria was spotted by Goeben, which was returning from a patrol off Eregli, 115 miles (185 km) east of the Bosporus.

Goeben immediately set off in pursuit while Pamiat' Merkuria headed at full speed for the main body, dodging shells from the German battlecruiser.

The Russian pre-dreadnoughts quickly hit Goeben three times, and the battlecruiser broke off the engagement using her superior speed.

[10] The crew of Pamiat' Merkuria pledged its allegiance to the Ukrainian People's Republic on 12 November 1917 soon after the October Revolution.

The occupation of the Ukrainian People's Republic by the Red Army early in 1918 led it to lay up on 28 March 1918 with her guns stripped by Bolsheviks to equip armoured trains.

Upon the end of World War I and withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Central powers, she fell into the hands of the Whites under the support of the Triple Entente in November 1918.

The British wrecked her engines in April 1919 when the Whites temporarily lost control of Sevastopol, in order to stop the cruiser from being of any use to the advancing Soviets.

Once she fell into Soviet hands she spent several years under repair, which required parts and material from her sisters that were even more damaged.

[3] Komintern, in company with the cruisers Krasny Kavkaz, Chervona Ukraina and a number of destroyers, laid down a defensive mine barrage protecting the Black Sea Fleet base at Sevastopol on 22 June.

[14] Komintern, along with the destroyers Nezamozhinsk and Shaumyan, was assigned to cooperate with the Separate Coastal Army on 8 August 1941 and spent much of the next month bombarding Romanian positions and coast defenses.