The cruiser Almaz was laid down on 12 September 1902 at the Baltic Shipyard as a yacht for Viceroy Yevgeni Alekseyev, launched on 20 May 1903, and completed in December 1903. Almaz was commissioned into the Baltic Fleet.

He was transferred to the Pacific Fleet. As part of the Second Pacific Squadron, he took part in the Battle of Tsushima. The cruiser successfully operated in battle, avoided major damage and managed to reach Vladivostok (6 people were killed and 13 wounded). She returned to the Baltic Fleet in 1906, and serving as an aviso.

Since 1908 - temporarily as an imperial yacht. In 1911, she was transferred to the Black Sea Fleet. At the start of World War I was rebuilt as a seaplane tender in 1914, carrying four seaplanes. She was at the Battle of Cape Sarych on 5 November 1914.

On 28 March 1915, as part of a group of ships of the Black Sea Fleet, he participated in the first bombing of the Bosphorus Strait. In total, during the war years, the cruiser has 6 sunk Turkish vessels.

In April 1918, it was captured by German troops in Sevatsopol, in November 1918, it was captured by British troops, and handed over by them to the White Guards in September 1919.

On 14 November 1920, she was taken away by the Wrangelites during the evacuation from Sevastopol to Istanbul and then to Bizerte, where he was interned by the French authorities on 29 December 1920.

On 29 October 1924, she was turned over to the Soviet Union by France, and was subsequently sold to a French firm for scrap in 1934.