She was the lead ship of her class, and was built in Britain by Armstrong, from her keel laying in October 1884 to her completion in December 1885.

From 1896 to 1898, she was stationed in China, and she sent a shore party to help United States Marines protect US civilians during a riot.

In the early 1880s, Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck pressed for new naval construction to strengthen the chronically neglected Austro-Hungarian Navy, but realizing that new ironclad battleships could not be built given the parliaments' unwillingness to fund such expensive projects, he requested a pair of small protected cruisers.

On trials, Panther reached a speed of 18.4 knots (34.1 km/h; 21.2 mph) from 5,940 indicated horsepower (4,430 kW), slightly slower than her sister ship Leopard.

The ship had a cruising radius of 2,800 nautical miles (5,200 km; 3,200 mi) at a more economical speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

After this work was completed in 1887, Panther entered service with the fleet, where she served as a flotilla leader for torpedo boats.

[7] She participated in the annual fleet maneuvers in 1888, along with the ironclads Don Juan d'Austria, Kaiser Max, Custoza, Tegetthoff, and the cruisers Leopard and Meteor.

[8] That year, Panther and Leopard joined a squadron that included the ironclads Tegetthoff, Custoza, Kaiser Max, Don Juan d'Austria, and Prinz Eugen to represent Austria-Hungary in the opening ceremonies for the Barcelona Universal Exposition from 25 April to 2 May.

On 21 June, she ran aground and the ship's captain, Rudolf Montecuccoli, later the chief of the Marinesektion, was reprimanded and forced to pay for the repair costs.

The Austro-Hungarian landing party Panther sent ashore helped the Marines protect American civilians during riots in the area.

In 1902, Panther cruised the western Mediterranean Sea and briefly into the Atlantic Ocean, making a call in Rabat, Morocco.

From there, Panther continued on in the Pacific Ocean, making visits in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and China, before ultimately returning to Austria-Hungary on 22 December 1906.

[13][14] In June 1909, the ship was drydocked for modernization that included a complete overhaul of her gun battery; after emerging from the shipyard, she carried four 66 mm (2.6 in) 45-cal.

Under the terms of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Britain received Panther as a war prize in 1920, but she was instead sold to ship breakers in Italy and scrapped in 1920.