Lieutenant Shestakov combined heavy armament with limited speed

The Lieutenant Shestakov class enlarged a German-built design for domestic construction and began as torpedo cruisers before receiving the destroyer designation. Cutouts in the superstructure kept the wing guns at a low level despite the raised forecastle. Triple-expansion machinery and Normand boilers gave a stated range of 1,994 nautical miles at 12 knots, but extensive reworking failed to achieve the designed 25 knots. The best reported trial figure was 24.78 knots, a claim treated as probably credible because it admitted such a small shortfall. Later armament changes introduced two 120 mm guns, removed the 75 mm battery, added two 47 mm anti-aircraft guns, and increased mine capacity. Whether the revised weapon balance moved these ships back toward torpedo-boat duties remains uncertain. They joined the Black Sea Fleet's torpedo brigade and were considered more than adequate for likely Ottoman opponents. Only four were built.