The cruisers “Admiral General” and “Duke of Edinburgh” occupy a very special place in the history of the Russian Navy. Created according to a Russian design, at Russian factories and from Russian materials, they became the world's first cruisers with an armored belt along the waterline and served as a role model even in England, which at that time was the most economically developed country in the world and whose fleet was rightfully considered the best . “General-Admiral” and “Duke of Edinburgh” were in service for more than 30 years, having managed to be in the rank of corvettes, semi-armored frigates, cruisers of the 1st rank, minelayers and blockers during their long life by the standards of a warship. Built in the 70s. XIX century, they participated in the First World War 1914-1918. - a completely unique case in history. And all the more surprising is the fact that in Russian historiography there is not a single serious work devoted to the history of the design, construction and service of these unique ships, with perhaps one exception. The outstanding Russian historian P.M. Melnikov wrote an article dedicated to “General-Admiral”, which was published in the 4th issue of the magazine “Shipbuilding” for 1979. In addition, P.M. Melnikov touches on the history of the creation and construction of the “Admiral General” and the “Duke of Edinburgh” in the 2nd volume of “History of Domestic Shipbuilding” (St. Petersburg, 1996), but, unfortunately, very briefly. Outstanding domestic scientist and shipbuilder A.P. Shershov in his monograph “History of Military Shipbuilding” (first published in 1940) devotes only a few lines to these ships