Katsuragi was designed as an iron-ribbed, wooden-hulled, three-masted barque-rigged sloop-of-war with a coal-fired double-expansion reciprocating steam engine with six cylindrical boilers driving a double screw.

[1] Her basic design was based on experience gained in building Kaimon and Tenryū sloops, but was already somewhat obsolescent in comparison to contemporary European warships when completed.

Katsuragi saw combat service in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, patrolling between Korea, Dairen and Weihaiwei.

It took over a month to refloat her, after which she underwent extensive repairs at Yokosuka, during which time her sail rigging was removed, and she was rearmed with eight QF 2.5 pdr guns and six quadruple Nordenfelt guns, and her torpedoes were upgraded from 15 inch to 18-inch torpedo tubes.

She was reclassified again as a second-class coastal patrol vessel on 28 August 1912, and was removed from the navy list and scrapped on 4 November 1913.