In 1916 the Russian government decided to reinforce its naval strength outside the Baltic and Black Seas. As Japan and Russia were allies during the war, the Japanese government sold Tango and some other ex-Russian warships back to Russia in March. The battleship arrived at Vladivostok on 2 April and was turned over to the Russians on either 3 or 4 April. Her former name had been given to the new dreadnought battleship Poltava, so Tango was renamed Chesma, after the 1770 Battle of Chesma. She departed Vladivostok on 2 July and arrived at Port Said, Egypt, on 19 September.
