The crew complement of the Storozhevoy class numbered 207 in peacetime, but this increased to 271 in wartime, as more personnel were needed to operate additional equipment.

Variations in fuel oil capacity meant that the range of the Project 7Us varied from 1,380 to 2,700 nautical miles (2,560 to 5,000 km; 1,590 to 3,110 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph), that upper figure demonstrated by Storozhevoy.

Two pumps were installed in the former magazines and winches, cable hangers, compressed air cylinders, and decompression chambers were fitted on the deck and superstructure.

[9] By the 22 June 1941 beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, she was 60% complete with turbines and piping installed.

The workload of the shipyard and the Siege of Leningrad prevented a quick completion, although on 30 August the Soviet naval jack was raised aboard her and she was conditionally accepted by the navy on 28 September.

During September she was towed to a position in the area of Nevsky Forest Park, bombarding German troops in 118 firings and claiming one aircraft downed by a 12.7 mm machine gun.

She expended a total of 4,669 shells during the siege; the intense fire rate required changing the barrel lining twice.

[12] Postwar, between August and October 1945, Strogy completed sea trials before officially joining the Baltic Fleet on 10 December.

During this period she was renamed SDK-13 on 20 March 1956 and then SS-18 on 27 December of that year, the latter after the Soviet Navy decided to classify her as a regular rescue ship.

On 11 October 1958, after the completion of the conversion, she joined the Northern Fleet via the White Sea–Baltic Canal before being converted into a floating target ship for missile testing designated SM-16 on 14 September 1963.