The ships saw little active service, in part because they were considered too large and thus too valuable to risk during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878.

The Navy considered rebuilding the ships for the second time in the early 1900s, but abandoned the idea due to their deteriorated state.

As a result, the four ships were decommissioned in 1909 and Mahmudiye and Orhaniye were broken up in 1913, with Osmaniye and Aziziye remaining in the Navy's inventory until 1923, when they too were scrapped.

[2][3] The ships were powered by a single horizontal compound steam engine which drove one screw propeller.

Steam was provided by six coal-fired box boilers that were trunked into a single, retractable funnel amidships.

During the refit, they received two vertical triple-expansion engines in place of their original machinery, and six coal-fired Scotch marine boilers replaced the box boilers; the new propulsion system allowed them to steam at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

Their armament was radically revised; all of the old muzzle-loaders were removed and a battery of new Krupp breech-loading guns were installed.

[4][5] The four ships were reduced to reserve status in Constantinople after the war, with the rest of the Ottoman fleet.

[3] Nevertheless, they were in poor condition by the outbreak of the Greco-Turkish War in February 1897, with many of their guns damaged or incomplete.