The ship's postwar career was limited due to a combination of drastically reduced naval budgets and the appearance of more modern ironclads.

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.

[4] Rear Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff brought the Austrian fleet to Ancona on June 27, in attempt to draw out the Italians.

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Principe di Carignano to determine whether he should sortie to engage Tegetthoff, but by that time, the Austrians had withdrawn, making the decision moot.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

[6] Terribile was at that time in the 3rd Division, along with her sister Formidabile, the ironclads Re di Portogallo and Regina Maria Pia, and the coastal defense ship Varese.

After spending the 18th unsuccessfully bombarding the Austrian fortresses, the Italians withdrew late in the day, preparing to launch another attack the following morning.

Persano's fleet was in disarray; Terribile and Varese were nine miles to the west of most of his ships, preparing to attack Comisa, and three other ironclads were to the north-east.

Shortly before the action began, Persano left his flagship, Re d'Italia, and transferred to Affondatore, though none of his subordinates on the other ships were aware of the change.

[9] She had answered Persano's summons very slowly and only arrived on the scene after Re d'Italia had been rammed and sunk, and the coastal defense ship Palestro had been set on fire, soon to be destroyed by a magazine explosion.

[10] After the battle, Persano was replaced by Admiral Giovanni Vacca; 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.