somewhat from her sister. The belt was only high with above the designed waterline and below. At bow and stern it was six inches thick. The flat protective deck was positioned at the upper edge of the belt on both ships and was thick and consisted of two layers of mild steel. The barbette and turret sides had a thickness of 10 inches while the turret roof was 2½ inches thick. Initially the barbette was open-topped, but a thick protective hood was added in late 1893. The transverse bulkheads were six inches thick, but the nine-inch guns were protected by a patch of side armor only three inches thick and the six-inch guns by a patch only thick. Originally there was no side armor above the main belt, but that was added when the original disappearing main guns mounts and their pear-shaped barbette were deleted and made some weight available. No partitions separated the casemated guns, nor was there any armor between the guns. The conning tower had sides on the Imperator Aleksandr II, but they were only six inches thick on Imperator Nikolai I, but it had a 2½-inch thick roof on both ships. Construction () was named after the Emperor Alexander II of Russia. She was built by the New Admiralty Yard at Saint Petersburg. Laid down on 12 July 1885, she was launched on 13 July 1887, and completed in June 1891, although her trials lasted until the spring of 1892. Imperator Nikolai I () was named after the Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. She was built by the Franco-Russian Works at Saint Petersburg. Construction began on 20 March 1886; she was launched on 1 June 1889, and completed in July 1891 although her trials lasted almost a year afterwards. History Imperator Aleksandr II served in the Baltic Fleet and represented Russia, along with the cruiser , at the opening of the Kiel Canal in June 1895. She ran aground in Vyborg Bay later that year, but suffered little damage. Joining the Mediterranean Squadron in August 1896, she supported Russian interests during the Cretan Revolt of 1897. Imperator Aleksandr II returned to Kronstadt in September 1901. She was reboilered in December 1903 and modified 1904–05 to serve as an artillery school ship with her secondary armament replaced by more modern guns. Her crew refused to suppress the mutinous garrison of Fort Konstantin defending Kronstadt in August 1906.