The ship was powered by a pair of 2-cylinder single-expansion steam engines, each of which drove a four-bladed screw propeller that was 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in) in diameter.

The French emperor, Napoleon III, intervened and ordered Arman Brothers to sell both vessels to another navy immediately.

After several letters were exchanged, Korvettenkapitän (KK—Corvette Captain) Ludwig von Henk and Carl Elbertzhagen, the chief Prussian naval engineer and member of the Admiralitätsrat (Admiralty Council), traveled to France on 28 April to inspect Cheops on the slipway.

As a result, the Prussians cancelled the order, though they reinstated it in January 1865, in part due to their satisfaction with the two Augusta-class corvettes, which they had also purchased from Arman Brothers.

The vessel was finally delivered in October and Kapitänleutnant (KL—Lieutenant Captain) Archibald MacLean oversaw the voyage to Prussia.

Initial sea trials revealed that the ship handled better than expected, but her ram bow created a very large wave that flooded water into the forward gun position.

She failed to reach her contract speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph), so Arman accepted a price reduced by 100,000 francs.

Though commissioned on 10 June, still under the command of MacLean, he had to remain ashore for the first two days of his official service as the ship's captain.

She went to sea for the first time under the Prussian flag on 12 July, carrying a load of munitions to the fortress at Friedrichsort outside Kiel.

Prinz Adalbert was found to leak badly during the voyage, and upon enter the Weser, an inspection revealed her hull seams to have been caulked poorly.

Her armor plating had to be removed and reinstalled, a breakwater was installed at the stern of the ship, and the main mast had to be relocated.

Despite the repairs, Prinz Adalbert continued to suffer from severe leaking throughout her short career and she remained a poor sailing vessel.

[10][11] Prinz Adalbert returned to service on 14 April 1869, and she was assigned as a guard ship based in the lower Elbe.

On 19 June, the ship sailed to the future site of the naval base at Wilhelmshaven for a ceremony marking the beginning of construction.

Prinz Adalbert, König Wilhelm, and Kronprinz continued on to Plymouth while Friedrich Carl returned to Kiel for repairs.

The latter vessel quickly rejoined the ships there and on 1 July they departed for a training cruise to Fayal in the Azores, Portugal.

While they cruised east through the English Channel, they learned of the increasing likelihood of war, and the Prussians detached Prinz Adalbert to Dartmouth to be kept informed of events.

The rest of the squadron joined her there on 13 July, and as war seemed to be imminent, the Prussians ended the cruise and returned to home.

Her timber hull was found to be rotten in 1871, which forced her decommissioning on 28 October, from what was now the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) of the German Empire.