It was the first warship acquired by the Kingdom of Romania after gaining independence in 1878 and the first military ship of the Romanian Black Sea Fleet.

She was built in 1880 by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino in Austria-Hungary, being the last warship purchased by Romania before the country's conversion to a Kingdom in 1881.

[5] The 1913 Second Balkan War found her on the Danube, where she provided artillery support for the Romanian troops crossing into Bulgaria from Corabia.

[6] When Romania entered the First World War on the side of the Allies in late 1916, she was put at the disposal of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, acting as a liaison ship between the Russian and Romanian forces[7] under the command of Captain Vlădescu Constantin.

[10] After Romania resumed hostilities against the Central Powers in the autumn of 1918, she captured a German cargo ship sailing for Odessa.