Her career was limited after the war, owing to the emergence of more modern ironclads and a severe reduction in the Italian naval budget following their defeat at Lissa.

[1] Ordered by the Royal Sardinian Navy, Principe di Carignano was laid down at the Cantiere della Foce shipyard in Genoa in January 1861, the first Italian ironclad to be domestically produced.

Persano claimed he was simply waiting on the ironclad ram Affondatore, en route from Britain, but his inaction weakened morale in the fleet, with many of his subordinates openly accusing him of cowardice.

Nevertheless, Principe di Carignano formed up with the ironclads San Martino, Regina Maria Pia, and Castelfidardo in preparation to confront Tegetthoff.

Persano held a council of war aboard Principe di Carignano to determine whether he should sortie to engage Tegetthoff, but by that time, the Austrians had withdrawn, making the decision moot.

The Minister of the Navy, Agostino Depretis, urged Persano to act and suggested the island of Lissa, to restore Italian confidence after their defeat at the Battle of Custoza the previous month.

[5] Principe di Carignano was at that time the flagship of Admiral Giovanni Vacca, commander of the 1st Division, along with the ironclads Ancona and Castelfidardo.

Persano then sent Vacca's division to Vis to force the harbor defenses, but by the time they arrived, night was approaching, and so he cancelled the attack.

[7] The next morning, Persano ordered the ironclad Formidabile to enter Vis harbor and attack the Madonna battery, supported by Principe di Carignano and the rest of the 1st Division.

Tegetthoff took his fleet through the gap between Vacca's and Persano's ships in an attempt to initiate a melee, though he failed to ram any Italian vessels on the first pass.

[11] Vacca turned Principe di Carignano and Castelfidardo to port, taking them away from the Austrian ships hammering Persano's division.

[14] After the battle, Vacca replaced Persano; he was ordered to attack the main Austrian naval base at Pola, but the war ended before the operation could be carried out.

The cuts were so severe that the fleet had great difficulty in mobilizing its ironclad squadron to attack the port of Civitavecchia in September 1870, as part of the wars of Italian unification.

[20] The Navy discarded both of her sisters, along with the ironclad Re di Portogallo between 1875 and 1880 to remove the cost of maintaining them from the naval budget, as part of an effort to reduce the financial impact of the new Duilio and Italia-classes then under construction.