"Rurik" escorted a group of minelayers sent to lay another field off Danzig on 13 February 1915, ran aground and was seriously damaged, forcing the Russians to cancel the operation. Despite taking on of water, with half of her boiler rooms flooded, she was able to free herself and return to port under her own power. Heavy ice in the Baltic curtailed further operations. By that time, the "Gangut"s had entered service, and the fleet was reorganized. "Rurik" was assigned to Group 5, along with "Bayan" and "Admiral Makarov", part of the 1st Cruiser Brigade. The cruisers continued to carry out most of the offensive operations, as the new dreadnoughts were considered too valuable to risk. They were instead used as a fleet in being and to guard the Gulf of Finland.