Rurik was the last armored cruiser to be built for the Imperial Russian Navy. The ship was designed by the British firm Vickers and built in their shipyard, being laid down in 1905 and completed in 1908. She was armed with a main battery of four guns and a secondary battery of eight guns; her top speed was rated at . Despite her powerful gun armament, "Rurik" was rendered obsolescent even before she was completed by the advent of the British battlecruisers of the , which were more powerfully armed and faster. Her design is nevertheless well regarded and naval historians rate her as one of the best vessels of her type ever built.