During the Turko-Russian war in 1877, the Russians requisitionned 19 trade vessels to convert them as torpedo boat tenders. Velikiy Knyaz Konstantin was the first historical vessel in this new ship class. She was captained by Stepan Makarov, who was major naval engineer, early practitioner of torpedo usage and the author of concept of torpedo boat tender. On 14 January 1878, Makarov performed the first successful attack by self-propelled torpedoes in history. The Turkish ship Intibah was destroyed by torpedo boats launched from Velikiy Knyaz Konstantin.