Her design was based on the previous armored cruiser Kaiser Karl VI, with the primary improvement being a stronger armament.

Sankt Georg served in the training and reserve squadrons during her peacetime career, usually alternating with Kaiser Karl VI.

In April–May 1907, Sankt Georg participated in the Jamestown Exposition in the United States, to commemorate the first English colony in North America.

By February 1918, the crews of Sankt Georg and several other warships grew weary of the war and the long periods of inactivity, which led to the Cattaro Mutiny.

In the late 1880s, the Austro-Hungarian Navy began experimenting with the ideas of the French Jeune École (Young School), which suggested that flotillas of cheap torpedo boats could effectively defend a coastline against a fleet of expensive battleships.

The Austro-Hungarian Marinekommandant (Navy Commander) at the time, Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck, led the decision to adopt the strategy, which involved building cruisers—to which he referred as "torpedo-ram cruisers"—to support the torpedo boat flotillas.

The initial design, prepared in July that year, amounted to a minor improvement over Kaiser Karl VI, with an extra pair of 15 cm (5.9 in) guns in the secondary battery.

[3] The ship's propulsion system consisted of two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines that drove a pair of screw propellers.

The latter allowed the ship to steam for 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[12] In addition to the Austro-Hungarian delegation, the international fleet consisted of warships from Great Britain, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, and several other nations.

[13] The event started on 26 April, and over the following two weeks, the crews from many of the ships, including Sankt Georg, competed in various sailing and rowing races.

Their decoy mission complete, Sankt Georg and the rest of the fleet returned to port without engaging any British forces.

Haus hoped that torpedo boats and mines could be used to reduce the numerical superiority of the Italian fleet before a decisive battle could be fought.

[20] While Sankt Georg was steaming to join the battle, Novara was hit by shells from Dartmouth that damaged her boilers, significantly reducing her speed.

[22] By early 1918, the long periods of inactivity had begun to wear on the crews of several warships at Cattaro, including Sankt Georg.

At this time, Sankt Georg was the flagship of the Cruiser Flotilla, commanded by Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Alexander Hansa.

[24] A tense stand-off began between the rebel and loyalist ships in the harbor: the destroyer Csepel steamed out and trained her torpedo tubes at Sankt Georg, before being recalled by Hansa's chief of staff.

[25] The mutineers issued a lengthy list of demands, that ranged from longer periods of leave to and end to the war, based on the United States President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points.

By late in the day, only the men aboard Sankt Georg and a handful of destroyers and torpedo boats remained in rebellion.

Only on the morning of 3 February, after the arrival of the Erzherzog Karl-class battleships of the III Division, were the last of the mutineers convinced to surrender.

[28] On 3 November 1918, the Austro-Hungarian government signed the Armistice of Villa Giusti with Italy, ending their participation in the conflict.