"Peresvet", named after Alexander Peresvet, a Russian monk who fought against the Golden Horde at the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, and "Pobeda" (the Russian word "pobeda" means "victory") steamed to the Far East almost immediately after entering service in 1901 and 1903 respectively. Upon her arrival, "Peresvet" became the flagship of the squadron's second-in-command, Rear Admiral Prince Pavel Ukhtomsky. During the Battle of Port Arthur (February 1904) on the second day of the war, "Peresvet" was not hit, but "Pobeda" was hit once amidships, sustaining little damage but losing two men killed and four wounded. "Pobeda" struck a mine during the squadron's sortie on 13 April and remained under repair for almost two months. Both ships had some of their anti-torpedoboat guns and secondary armament removed during the summer to bolster the defenses of the port. They participated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 10 August 1904; "Pobeda" was only lightly damaged by 11 large-caliber hits, but "Peresvet", hit 39 times, suffered a considerable amount of flooding. More guns were landed after the squadron's return to Port Arthur, but the Imperial Japanese Army captured the hills overlooking the harbor in November, and this allowed Japanese siege guns to fire directly at the Russian ships. "Pobeda" and "Peresvet" were hit many times, and "Pobeda" sank on 7 December 1904 from the accumulated damage. "Peresvet" was scuttled in shallow water on the same day.