Her service was limited by the inadequate draught for certain stretches of river, and her maneuverability was reduced due to an extremely low side, which meant the ship was used mainly as a floating battery.

According to Ribeiro de Luz, "these ironclad battleships would be endowed with all the improvements needed to make them perfect machines for both maritime and river warfare."

However, this finding turned out not to be true, as the future battleships proved to be slow and unreliable in open sea due to their excessively low freeboard.

After conducting sea trials, and performing engine and steering tests, the captain judged the results to be unsatisfactory, facing criticism from those involved in her construction.

[1] Days before the signing of the Lei Áurea that abolished slavery in Brazil, there was a popular mobilization headed by journalists to raise funds for the purchase of the gold feather that would be used on the occasion.

She lost her engines, remaining anchored between Ponta do Calabouço and Villegagnon Island, in the Guanabara Bay, when she began an exchange of fire with the fortresses of Barra do Rio de Janeiro.

The tugboat Vulcano tried to move Javary to a safer position where repairs could be made, but this proved impossible to accomplish given the continuous damage the monitor was suffering.