"Burevestnik" was laid down at the Nikolaev Naval shipyard in October 1915 and launched there on 15 November 1916, but was not completed for another year (sources vary between October 1917 and January 1918). She was stationed with the Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol but saw no action due to the cessation of hostilities in December 1917. In May 1918 she was seized by German occupation forces and renamed SM "US-1", but was not commissioned by the German Navy. In November 1918, with the German surrender, she was taken over by the Anglo-French intervention force and transferred to the Whites under General Wrangel.