In the late 1860s and early 1870s, he pushed for a significant expansion of the fleet, and in 1871, secured funding for the construction of two new screw frigates, among other new vessels.

[2] Radetzky was built at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in Trieste, beginning with her keel laying in September 1870.

After Radetzky suffered a machinery breakdown that necessitated lengthy repairs, Sterneck transferred his flag to Kaiser on 14 February 1874.

The ship was recommissioned on 16 July, and she initially cruised in the southern Adriatic Sea; on 2 August, she sailed to Gravosa, where she met Kaiser.

[6] Following Pöck's replacement by Admiral Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck in 1884, the fleet took a more active role; for much of each year's training cycle, either Radetzky or Laudon would lead a division of a few unarmored vessels for operations in home waters.

Greece eventually capitulated to international demands in June, allowing the Austro-Hungarian ships to withdraw by August.

After the start of World War I, she was converted into a barracks ship in 1915 for German U-boat crews based in Pola.