[1] After final fitting-out work was completed, the ship was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian fleet on 15 April 1904.

[4] Babenberg was powered by 2-shaft, 4-cylinder vertical triple expansion engines, which were supplied with steam by 16 Belleville boilers.

Babenberg's power output was rated at 16,000 indicated horsepower (12,000 kW), which produced a top speed of 19.85 knots (36.76 km/h; 22.84 mph).

[3] The main guns fired at a rate of between three and four 215 kg (474 lb) armor-piercing (AP) shells per minute.

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.

Babenberg was mobilized on the eve of World War I to support the flight of SMS Goeben and Breslau.

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 troops and vessels and make their way to the Ottoman Empire.

[9] Babenberg and her sister ships also participated in the Bombardment of Ancona after the Italian declaration of war on the Central Powers.