She spent her career alternating between the Active and Reserve Squadrons, where she took part in training exercises each year with the rest of the fleet.

[1] Her propulsion system consisted of a pair of compound marine steam engines each driving a single screw propeller.

Steam was supplied by eight coal-fired, cylindrical fire-tube boilers that were vented through a pair of widely spaced funnels at the ends of the hurricane deck.

[1] Francesco Morosini was armed with a main battery of four 432 mm (17 in) 27-caliber guns, mounted in two pairs en echelon in a central barbette.

Because of the rapid pace of naval technological development in the late 19th century, her lengthy construction period meant that she was an obsolete design by the time she entered service.

[5] During that year's summer maneuvers, held in July 1896, Francesco Morosini continued as Gaulterio's flagship; the 2nd Division also included her sister Andrea Doria and the protected cruiser Giovanni Bausan.

After Prince George boarded Bugeaud on 20 December, Francesco Morosini, Revenge, and Gerzog Edinburgski escorted Bugeaud to Crete, where Prince George disembarked on 21 December 1898 to take office as the High Commissioner of an autonomous Cretan State under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, bringing the Cretan uprising to an end.

[7] In 1898, Francesco Morosini was transferred to the Reserve Squadron, along with Ruggiero di Lauria and the ironclad Lepanto and five cruisers.

[8] The In 1899, Francesco Morosini and her two sisters returned to the Active Squadron, which was kept in service for eight months of the year, with the remainder spent with reduced crews.

[9] In 1900, Francesco Morosini and her sisters were significantly modified and received a large number of small guns for defense against torpedo boats.

[1] In 1905, Francesco Morosini and her two sisters were joined in the Reserve Squadron by the three Re Umberto-class ironclads and Enrico Dandolo, three cruisers, and sixteen torpedo boats.