Diana was the second of three Pallada-class protected cruisers built for the Imperial Russian Navy. The cruiser served during the Russo-Japanese War and took part in the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 10 August 1904. Later, she served as part of the Russian Baltic Fleet during World War I.

The Pallada-class cruisers were a group of three protected cruisers built for the Imperial Russian Navy (IRN) in the late 1890s. One ship of the class, Aurora, is still crewed by the Russian Navy, and maintained as a museum ship.