Ordered as part of a naval expansion program after the Austro-Prussian War, Ariadne was laid down in September 1868, launched in July 1871, and was commissioned in November 1872.

In 1880–1881, the ship went to South American waters to protect German interests during the War of the Pacific between Peru, Chile, and Bolivia, and in 1884–1885, she operated off West Africa, where she negotiated the acquisition of a protectorate in what is now Guinea.

The three Ariadne-class corvettes were ordered as part of the fleet plan of 1867, an expansion program aimed at strengthening the Prussian Navy in the wake of the Austro-Prussian War.

The training squadron was disbanded on 11 September, and on 13 October Ariadne was decommissioned at what was now the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Shipyard) in Danzig to have her rigging reduced.

On 6 June, she joined the training squadron, which at the time consisted of the ironclad warships Kronprinz and Friedrich Carl, the gunboat Albatross, and the aviso Grille, commanded by Konteradmiral (KAdm—Rear Admiral) Ludwig von Henk.

Later in the year, Ariadne accompanied Crown Prince Friedrich to Britain, which included a stop in Cowes on the island of Portland.

She remained there until 4 January 1875, when she left for Manila in the Philippines, before proceeding on to Hong Kong, where she replaced the corvette Elisabeth as the station ship in China.

[5] The three ships patrolled off the coast between Canton and Taku before arriving at Whampoa on 12 September, where Ariadne and Cyclop launched a retaliatory raid against a group of pirates that had attacked the German schooner Anna.

Ariadne conducted a hydrographic survey around Amoy in early 1876, and in April, the three ships in Chinese waters united in Hong Kong.

Ariadne then sailed to Tahiti and visited the town of Papeete, where her commander, Korvettenkapitän (KK—Corvette Captain) Bartholomäus von Werner assured the local government that Germany had no intent of colonizing the islands.

Ariadne was tasked with punishing the chiefs, and she sent men ashore to capture the towns of Saluafata and Falealili on the north coast of the island of Upolu.

The ship also picked up the German consul Weber and, departing Sydney on 20 October, began a tour of the Melanesian and Micronesian islands.

[7][8] Werner imposed trade and friendship treaties on the islanders giving Germany most-favored-nation treatment, and he intervened to assist the Handels-und Plantagen-Gesellschaft der Südsee-Inseln zu Hamburg (DHPG) trader at Vaitupu, Harry Nitz, in a dispute over land.

On 11 December, Ariadne stopped in Mioko Island in what was to later become Neu Lauenberg; there was insufficient coal there, and so the crew again had to resort to cutting wood for the boilers.

Weber asked Werner to continue the tour of the island of New Pomerania to show the flag and secure additional trade treaties.

[10] Over the winter of 1879–1880, Ariadne underwent a thorough overhaul at the Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven, and on 1 April she was recommissioned for another deployment to South America.

She left Germany on 14 April and arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay on 6 June, though unrest in Argentina prompted her to go to Buenos Aires to protect German interests.

After the situation had calmed, she passed through the Strait of Magellan and arrived in Coronel on 11 August, where she replaced the ironclad corvette Hansa.

Two days later, Ariadne left Valparaiso, steamed through the Strait of Magellan, and north through the Atlantic, arriving in Wilhelmshaven on 7 October.

On the return voyage, she carried a banker from Frankfurt who had been charged with fraud and had escaped to South America, only to have been apprehended while Ariadne was on station.

She also participated in the autumn fleet maneuvers in late August with the corvette Sophie, the artillery school ship Mars, and a flotilla of torpedo boats.

After the conclusion of the maneuvers, Ariadne received orders on 27 September to join a new West African Squadron, commanded by KAdm Eduard von Knorr to protect German interests in the region.

Ariadne arrived back in Wilhelmshaven on 25 August 1888 and immediately joined the fleet maneuvers, where she was tasked with defending the port with the ironclad König Wilhelm and some armored gunboats against a simulated attack.

[12] After returning to Germany in 1890, she took part in a naval review held during a visit by a squadron of ironclads from the Austro-Hungarian Navy in August, which coincided with the annual fleet maneuvers, which Ariadne also joined.