Specific figures for Caprera's engine performance have not survived, but the ships of her class had top speeds of 18.1 to 20.8 knots (33.5 to 38.5 km/h; 20.8 to 23.9 mph) at 3,884 to 4,422 indicated horsepower (2,896 to 3,297 kW).

[3] Upon entering service, Caprera was initially stationed in the 2nd Maritime Department, split between Taranto and Naples, along with most of the torpedo cruisers in the Italian fleet.

These included her sister ships Partenope, Aretusa, Euridice, Iride, Minerva, and Urania, the four Goito-class cruisers, and Tripoli.

The rest of the Red Sea Squadron, which included the protected cruisers Dogali and Etruria, met Caprera and Etna in Massawa.

[7] The ship was assigned to the Atlantic Naval Division in 1899, along with Marco Polo and the protected cruisers Etna, Dogali, and Giovanni Bausan.

[8] In 1903, Caprera was sent to strengthen the Red Sea Station, which also included the old screw corvette Cristoforo Colombo, the gunboat Volturno, and the aviso Barbarigo.

While there, an Italian meteorologist conducted several experiments aboard the ship with a hot air balloon to study the monsoon winds in the region, beginning in Zanzibar.

[12] At the start of the Italo-Turkish War in September 1911, Caprera was stationed in Italy, alternating between the ports of La Spezia and Naples, along with her sister ships Urania and Iride.

Caprera and the rest of the Italian ships then commenced a bombardment campaign against the Turkish ports in the Red Sea before declaring a blockade of the city of Al Hudaydah on 26 January.

On 27 July and 12 August, Caprera, her sister ship Aretusa, and the protected cruiser Piemonte conducted two bombardments of Al Hudaydah.