The reader is offered a book in which, as fully as possible, based on materials from the Central State Archive of the Navy and the Leningrad State Historical Archive (LGIA), the history of “Rurik” is told, many unknown pages of his life are revealed, starting from the creation of the project and ending with a description of the battle and the last minutes cruisers. A significant place in the book is devoted to people: statesmen and military leaders, engineers, builders and, of course, the heroic crews of “Rurik”, “Russia” and “Gromoboy”.