Pallada was long overall. She had a maximum beam of , a draught of and displaced . The ship had a crew of 568 officers and men. Pallada was named in honour of the earlier Russian cruiser captured by the Japanese during the Russo-Japanese War. Both ships were named for the Greek goddess, Pallas Athena. The ship had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines with a designed total of , but they developed on sea trials and drove the ship to a maximum speed of . Steam for the engines was provided by 26 Belleville boilers. She could carry a maximum of of coal, although her range is unknown.