The ship was launched on 30 September 1909, and during fitting out, she was sold to the Ottoman Navy and renamed Gayret-i Vataniye,[5] which means "national endeavor".

[6] The purchase of the vessel, along with three of her sister ships—Muavenet-i Milliye, Yadigar-i Millet, and Nümune-i Hamiyet—occurred in March 1910, at the same time that the Ottoman government acquired a pair of pre-dreadnought battleships.

[12] In the first two months of the war, the Ottoman fleet concentrated its efforts against Bulgarian forces along the Black Sea coast, but Gayret-i Vataniye was not actively involved in the fighting.

[14] The Ottoman Army had become convinced that it could occupy Tenedos and that the fleet could support an amphibious assault on the island, over repeated objections from the naval command.

The Ottoman government nevertheless ordered the operation, and on 4 January 1913, the navy decided to make a major sweep toward the island, despite the fact that the regiment assigned to the landing had not yet arrived.

Gayret-i Vataniye and the other II Division ships were among the first vessels to leave the Dardanelles, and they took up a defensive position by around 07:15 near the straits while the other elements of the fleet assembled themselves.

Reports of the Greek fleet in the area prompted the Ottoman commander to order the cruisers and destroyers to rejoin the battleships and then return to the Dardanelles.

After the fleet resumed its cruising formation around mid-day, the battleships briefly engaged three Greek destroyers at long range, which quickly retreated.

The ships sortied on 22 February and sailed toward Imbros, and they encountered a pair of Greek destroyers in a light fog, but neither side decided to press the attack and the Ottomans turned back to the Dardanelles.

On 3 March, Gayret-i Vataniye, Muavenet-i Milliye, and Yarhisar sortied to support a sweep by the destroyers Sultanhisar and Demirhisar; the latter pair hoped to catch the Greek submarine Delfin, which was believed to be in the area.

Gayret-i Vataniye was detached to scout the Gulf of Saros and she spotted three Greek destroyers in the distance, but the range was too great to engage them and she rejoined the rest of the flotilla instead.

In mid-August, Gayret-i Vataniye and Nümune-i Hamiyet were sent to İzmit to join the flotilla stationed there, as the Ottomans set about strengthening the defenses of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles.

[19] When the Ottoman Empire entered World War I in late October 1914, Gayret-i Vataniye was assigned to I Destroyer Squadron with her three sisters.

Gayret-i Vataniye and Muavenet-i Millet were detached to Odessa on 29 October, where they encountered a Russian convoy escorted by the gunboats Donets and Kuranets.

Two weeks later, on 14 November, Yavuz Sultan Selim was sent to attack the Russian fleet off the Crimea, and Gayret-i Vataniye, Muavenet-i Millet, the destroyer Samsun, the torpedo cruiser Peyk-i Şevket, and Hamidiye sortie the next day to support the battlecruiser.

Since the cruiser sank in shallow water, the Ottomans decided to refloat the vessel, and Gayret-i Vataniye and the destroyers Yarhisar and Musul were sent to guard the wreck while salvage operations took place.

[23] The French submarine Turquoise, which had concluded a patrol in the Sea of Marmara, was captured by Ottoman forces as she attempted to pass through the Dardanelles on 30 October.

[24] On 30 October 1916, Admiral Wilhelm Souchon sailed aboard Muavenet-i Millet in company with Nümune-i Hamiyet to Varna, to meet with Field Marshal August von Mackensen, who was leading German Army operations in Romania.