"Uragan", "Smerch" and "Groza" were sent to the Northern Flotilla via the newly opened White Sea–Baltic Canal in 1933. To lighten the ships for passage through shallows their armament was removed, along with much of the moveable deck equipment, and carried in barges that followed the ships. During the Lake Khasan Border Incident with the Japanese in the summer of 1938 "Metal" carried wounded to Vladivostok and escorted three convoys carrying troops and supplied to Posyet Bay, fortunately without interference by the Imperial Japanese Navy.