Two Pacific ships participated in the defence of Port Arthur in 1904; those destined for the Baltic (except for the uncompleted "Vidnyi") were sent to the Far East and fought in the Battle of Tsushima (1905). The survivors were reclassified as destroyers in 1907. Originally named after various aquatic animals and fish, the "Buinyi" class were named after various "active" characteristics at the time of Tsushima, with all but one beginning with the Russian letter Б.