Major components for the ship that became "Razumny" were laid down at Shipyard No. 200 (named after 61 Communards) in Nikolayev on 7 July 1936 as yard number 1075 and were then railed to Vladivostok for completion at Shipyard No. 202 (Dalzavod) where the ship was laid down again on 16 August 1937 as "Prochny". She was launched on 30 June 1939 and was renamed "Razumny" on 25 August before she was completed on 20 October 1941 and commissioned on 7 November into the Pacific Fleet. As a result of the weakness of the Northern Fleet and the importance of the Arctic convoys of World War II, Stavka decided to transfer several modern ships from the Pacific to the Northern Fleet via the Northern Sea Route. Led by the destroyer leader , "Razumny" and her sister ships and departed Vladivostok on 15 July 1942, although "Revnostny" collided with a freighter on the 18th and had to return to Vladivostok. They stopped at Tiksi on 14 August for a few days, resumed the voyage five days later and arrived off Kola Bay on 14 October.