Both ships were taken out of service in 1905; Habicht was recalled to Germany, while Möwe could not make the lengthy voyage home.

To replace these older vessels, the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) ordered the six Carola-class corvettes and three Habicht-class gunboats.

Wooden hull planks were sheathed with zinc to protect the ships from marine biofouling during extended voyages abroad.

To supplement the steam engine on long voyages, the ships were fitted with a schooner sailing rig that had 847 m2 (9,120 sq ft) of surface area.

[5] The ships were armed with a single 15 cm (5.9 in) RK L/22 built-up gun, which supplied from a magazine with 115 shells.

In the early 1880s, the ships' armament was standardized on a uniform battery of five 12.5 cm (4.9 in) K L/23 built up guns and five 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon.

In 1890, when Möwe was converted into a survey ship, her main battery was reduced to two 12.5 cm guns, though those were eventually removed as well, leaving her armed with just the revolver cannon.

During their return to Germany in 1882, they were diverted to Egypt in response to the Anglo-Egyptian War to protect Germans in the country.

Over the next two years, she patrolled the islands to defend Germans in the area, and in late 1887, she carried the deposed king Malietoa Laupepa into exile.

The next year, members of her crew and those of German vessels Eber and Olga fought in the First Battle of Vailele, where they were ambushed by a significantly larger Samoan force and suffered heavy casualties.

On 16 March 1889, Adler, Eber, and Olga were anchored in Apia, Samoa, along with three American warships and several other merchant vessels when a major hurricane struck the islands.

In 1894, she moved to the South Pacific to begin surveying the colonies in German New Guinea, Micronesia, and Melanesia.

This deployment lasted until 1905, and passed relatively uneventfully, until the outbreak of the Herero Wars German South West Africa in 1904.

The ship's landing parties saw repeated combat until being relieved as more significant forces arrived in the colony.