Due to a shortage of coal, she was soon decommissioned after the bombardment of Ancona and used as harbor defense ship for the remainder of the war.

After final fitting-out work was finished, Árpád was fully ready for service and commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 15 June 1903.

Árpád's power output was rated at 14,307 indicated horsepower (10,669 kW), which produced a top speed of 19.65 knots (36.39 km/h; 22.61 mph).

The main armored belt was 220 mm (8.7 in) in the central portion of the ship, where the ammunition magazines, machinery spaces, and other critical areas were located.

When Habsburg underwent a training cruise with the three Monarch-class battleships in January 1903, Árpád joined her the next year in a voyage around the Mediterranean Sea.

[1] Early in World War I, Árpád was transferred to the Austro-Hungarian Navy's IV Division after the first new Tegetthoff-class battleships came into service.

At around the same time, Árpád, her sister ships Habsburg and Babenberg and the remainder of the Austro-Hungarian Navy were mobilized to support the flight of SMS Goeben and Breslau from 28 July to 10 August 1914.

The two German ships were stationed in the Mediterranean and were attempting to break out of the strait of Messina, which was surrounded by British vessels.

[9] After Italy entered the war on the side of France and Great Britain, the Austro-Hungarian Navy bombarded several Italian port cities along the Adriatic coast.

[4] Due to a coal shortage, Árpád was later decommissioned and re-purposed as a harbor defense ship for the latter half of the war.