Ratnik's advice to build an improved copy of the battleship of , but did not present a definite alternative. The NTC declined to discuss tactical matters, leaving the choice of armament to Chikhachov. Chikhachov instructed Andrey Toropov of the Nikolaev Shipyard to draft two proposals, one armed with 10-inch and the other with 12-inch guns. Toropov estimated that the ship should have displaced at least 8,880 tons. Chikhachov admitted the fact and presented the two options to the NTC. The admiral himself and the active fleet commanders voted for the 12-inch caliber, which had already become a worldwide battleship standard, but the NTC strongly advised against it. The Navy brass spent April and May 1893 in lengthy debates. They agreed to increase displacement to 8,880 tons and were leaning toward accepting 12-inch guns when General Admiral Grand Duke Alexey resolved the discussion in favor of the smaller caliber. Rostislav had the same hull as Sissoi Veliky, protected with the newly developed Harvey armor. She was also the first Russian battleship to use electric power instead of older hydraulic systems to train her guns. General characteristics Rostislav was long at the waterline and long overall. She had a beam of and a draft of . She displaced , over more than her designed displacement of . This weight gain increased her draft by about , submerging most, if not all, of her waterline armored belt. Propulsion Rostislav had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, identical to those of Sissoi Veliky, that had a total designed output of . Eight cylindrical fire-tube boilers provided steam to the engines, each of which drove one propeller. Half of the boilers were coal-fired and the other half were oil-fired, making Rostislav the first capital ship in the world to use fuel oil. This was done in order to substitute cheap oil from Baku for expensive imported coal. On sea trials, the power plant produced a total of and a top speed of . She carried a maximum of of fuel oil and coal at full load that provided a range of at a speed of . Armament The main armament consisted of two pairs of 45-caliber Model 1891 guns mounted in French-style, center-pivot twin gun turrets fore and aft. Each turret had an arc of fire of 240°. These guns had a maximum elevation of +15° and could depress to −5°. They fired a shell at