"Admiral Makarov" was built by Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée in La Seyne-sur-Mer, France. The ship was laid down in April 1905, and she was launched on 28 May 1906. "Admiral Makarov" was completed in April 1908. The ship sailed for the Baltic on 27 May and reached Tallinn, Estonia on 11 June where she was assigned to the Baltic Fleet. A few months later, she returned to the Mediterranean and provided assistance to the survivor of the Messina earthquake in December. The ship then rejoined the Baltic Fleet, but she was transferred back to Mediterranean in 1910 where she represented the Russian Empire, together with the battleship , the armored cruiser , and the protected cruiser , at the coronation of Nicholas I of Montenegro in August 1910. "Admiral Makarov" was back in the Baltic during 1911 and she made a port visit to Copenhagen in 1912. The following year, the ship was one of a group of cruisers that visited Brest, France, the Isle of Portland in Great Britain, and Stavanger, Norway.