"Slava" was built by the Baltic Works at Saint Petersburg. She was laid down on 1 November 1902, launched on 29 August 1903, and completed in October 1905, too late to participate in the Russo-Japanese War. Together with the battleship , she helped to suppress the Sveaborg Rebellion in 1906. "Slava" was assigned to a training squadron for new officers fresh from the Naval College that was formed after the Rebellion as part of the post-Tsushima naval reforms. On one of her training cruises to the Mediterranean, her crewmen rescued survivors during the 1908 Messina earthquake and the ship took casualties to Naples for medical care. She had a serious boiler accident in August 1910 and was towed by "Tsesarevich" to Gibraltar for temporary repairs before sailing to Toulon for repairs that required nearly a year to complete. Upon her return to Kronstadt she was relieved of her training assignment and transferred to the Baltic Fleet.