Intended for service in the German colonial empire, the ship was designed with a combination of steam and sail power for extended range, and was equipped with a battery of ten 15-centimeter (5.9 in) guns.

Alexandrine was first activated in 1889 for a deployment to the Central Pacific, where competing claims to the islands of Samoa created tension between several colonial powers.

In March 1895, Alexandrine was recalled to Germany; while en route, she stopped in Morocco to pressure local authorities into paying reparations for the murder of two German citizens.

Alexandrine and her sister ships were intended to patrol Germany's colonial empire and safeguard German economic interests around the world.

[5] The ship remained laid up until 1889, when a major cyclone struck the islands of Samoa on 16 March and destroyed two German warships in Apia—the gunboats Adler and Eber.

The ship, using a combination of steam and sail power, proceeded through the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, stopping in Gibraltar along the way, before entering the Suez Canal at Port Said.

She then continued through the Red Sea and stopped in Aden before crossing the Indian Ocean to Albany, Australia; from there, she went to Sydney, arriving there on 6 July.

The trip culminated with Kapsu island off Neu-Mecklenburg, where Alexandrine sent a landing party ashore to punish local residents who had murdered a pair of German citizens.

[6] Alexandrine then sailed to Sydney for maintenance, where in July she learned she had been assigned to the Cruiser Squadron under Konteradmiral (KAdm—Rear Admiral) Victor Valois.

On 6 January 1891, Alexandrine visited several islands in the Samoa group before continuing with the rest of the squadron for a cruise in East Asian waters.

Alexandrine then returned to Chinese waters and stopped in Chemulpo, Korea, where the ship's captain received an audience with Gojong, the King of Joseon.

While cruising in the Bohai Sea, several of the ship's crewmen fell seriously ill, forcing Alexandrine to put into Yokohama, Japan, where the German government operated a hospital.

After arriving there on 4 November, the two ships proceeded to East Africa, where unrest due to a feared succession crisis on the island of Zanzibar.

The Brazilian government suppressed the revolution in early 1894, and by that time, Alexandrine's sister Marie had joined the German ships in Brazil.

Tensions between China and Japan had been rising steadily over control of Korea, and as a result, the German high command sent the three corvettes to East Asia.

On 7 March, they rounded Cape Horn and entered the Pacific Ocean, but while en route, the ships were diverted to Peru on 13 July to protect German interests during a revolution in the country.