After a brief period of time in home waters in 1874, she sailed to Spain to protect German nationals there during the Third Carlist War, patrolling the coast there into 1875.

After an overhaul in Germany in the early 1880s, Albatross spent the years from 1882 to 1888 overseas, beginning with a tour of South America that included an observation of the 1882 transit of Venus.

She then moved back to the South Pacific, and in 1887, she took the exiled Samoan king Malietoa Laupepa to the German colony of Kamerun in Central Africa.

Steam was provided by two coal-fired fire-tube boilers, which gave her a top speed of 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) at 491 metric horsepower (484 ihp).

The ship was commissioned later that year on 23 December to begin sea trials; her first commander was Korvettenkapitän (KK—Corvette Captain) Max von der Goltz.

[2][4] Albatross was recommissioned on 1 October and assigned to the Flying Squadron, led by the ironclad Friedrich Carl, along with the screw frigates Elisabeth, Gazelle, and Vineta, under the command of Kommodore (Commodore) Reinhold von Werner.

The squadron was sent abroad to show the flag along the eastern coast of South America and in the West Indies, and to protect German commercial interests during periods of internal unrest in the countries of the region.

The ships of the squadron met in Barbados on 28 November, and thereafter toured several ports in Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti, Jamaica, and Curaçao.

Conditions in the region had calmed by that time, and no attacks on Germans had materialized, so while the ships were in Havana, Cuba, on 10 March 1873, they received orders to return to Germany.

[5] She spent the summer months cruising off the coast of Brazil, voyaging as far south as Montevideo, Uruguay, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The ship conducted shooting practice off Saint Thomas in the Danish West Indies in early January 1874, which led to rumors that Germany intended to annex the island.

On 6 June, she was assigned to the summer training squadron, which was led by Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Ludwig von Henk and included the ironclads Kronprinz and Friedrich Carl, the screw corvette Ariadne, and the aviso Grille.

The ships embarked on a training cruise to visit Britain on 25 July, and they escorted Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm and his wife to the Isle of Wight.

[6] Spain was at that time in the midst of the Third Carlist War between the Republican government, and rival factions for backers of the pretenders to the throne, Don Carlos and Alfonso.

The deployment was in response to attacks against Germans in the country, including the summary execution of a retired captain of the Prussian Navy on the orders of Carlos.

Therefore, Albatross and Nautilus were to be sent; they were ordered to avoid interfering in internal Spanish affairs and to act in close cooperation with Paul von Hatzfeldt, the German ambassador to Spain.

The two gunboats initially patrolled the northern coast of Spain, but on 5 September, while cruising off Guetaria, they came under rifle fire from Carlist soldiers.

As the severe winter weather curtailed the ships' ability to patrol the coast, and the feared attacks against Germans in the area failed to materialize, the Admiralty recalled Albatross and ordered Nautilus to sail across the Atlantic to South American waters.

The men aboard Albatross transferred surplus equipment to Nautilus for her deployment to South America, and then left for Germany on 19 December.

The three ships rendezvoused in Santander on 30 January, and the captain of Gustav informed the Germans that the incident was a cause of significant embarrassment for the Carlist leadership.

Albatross left Germany on 4 September, but while en route, she was diverted to Ottoman Palestine to join a squadron of German warships that included the ironclad Kaiser and the frigate Hertha that had been assembled to suppress Muslim attacks on Christians in the region.

She arrived in Singapore on 7 March 1878, and she formally joined the cruiser squadron in East Asia, which also included Augusta and the gunboat Cyclop.

The ship thereafter departed, sailed through the Dutch East Indies, crossed the Indian Ocean, and passed through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

She stopped in Montevideo to replace part of her crew for the long voyage, including her captain; KK Max Plüddemann took command of the ship at that time.

[13] In mid-June 1885, Albatross joined a newly formed Australian Squadron in Sydney, which also included the screw corvettes Stosch and Marie and the gunboat Hyäne.

On 11 April 1886, Albatross joined the Cruiser Squadron, commanded by Konteradmiral Eduard von Knorr, with the screw corvettes Bismarck, Gneisenau, and Olga.

Albatross was recommissioned on 2 April 1889 and carried out survey work along Germany's North Sea coast until being laid up for the winter on 1 October.