Unlike earlier Austro-Hungarian cruisers, the Zenta class discarded heavy belt armor in favor of a higher top speed.

The latter were intended to screen the battleships of the main fleet, scouting for enemy vessels and protecting them from torpedo boat attacks.

[5] Szigetvár was laid down at the Pola Arsenal on 25 May 1899 under the contract name Ersatz (Replacement) Fasana, the last member of her class to begin construction.

She was launched on 29 October 1900 under the direction of Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Johann von Hinke without a ceremony, though she was christened after the 16th-century Siege of Szigetvár.

The naval command immediately ordered Szigetvár to embark on an overseas training cruise to North American and northern Europe.

[3][8][9] The ship departed Pola on 4 October and steamed through the western Mediterranean Sea, stopping in Gibraltar on the way, she then crossed to Tangier, French Morocco, before continuing on to Funchal on the island of Madeira, Portugal.

She arrived in Bridgetown, British Barbados, on 1 November and stayed there for a week before beginning a tour of the Caribbean Sea that last for the rest of the year.

On 1 January 1902, Szigetvár departed Kingston, Jamaica for ports in the northern Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, stopping in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Santiago de Cuba, Veracruz, Mexico, New Orleans, Pensacola, and Key West in the United States and Havana and Matanzas, Cuba by mid-March.

She returned to US waters for the next two months, visiting Norfolk, Annapolis, Baltimore, New York City, New Haven, New London, and Boston through early May.

Szigetvár then sailed to Bergen, Norway, then crossed the North Sea to Edinburgh, UK, then steamed south to Brest, France.

Four days later, she was decommissioned for periodic repairs along with a minor modernization that included installation of a wireless telegraphy set.

[10] Szigetvár returned to active service in 1903 as a flotilla leader for a group of torpedo boats with the main fleet in home waters.

On 5 November, she was recommissioned to take the place of the damaged armored cruiser Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia in the main fleet.

During this period, she joined a squadron for a training cruise off the Levant; the ships left Pola on 1 February and stopped at the island of Hydra, Greece.

She then began the voyage home, stopping in Argostoli, Greece, and Durazzo in Ottoman Albania, before continuing on to Luka and finally arriving in Pola on 22 April.

The summer training routine followed from 15 June to 15 September, during which Szigetvár operated with the battleships of I Heavy Division and the armored cruiser Sankt Georg.

There, she joined an international fleet that had been assembled to respond to unrest in the Ottoman Empire that threatened foreigners in the country.

The international squadron was dissolved on 18 December, Szigetvár then passed through the Corinth Canal, reuniting with Sankt Georg at Patras; the two cruisers arrived back in Pola two days later.

[10] The ship was transferred back to I Heavy Division in early 1907, before being tasked with carrying a replacement crew to East Asia for the protected cruiser Kaiser Franz Joseph I.

She departed Pola on 2 January, taking Yo, the new yacht of the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, in tow to Constantinople.

She left Yo in Sarı Sıĝlar Bay at the Aegean entrance to the Dardanelles, where she replaced the old paddle steamer Taurus, which had until then served as the Austro-Hungarian station ship in the Constantinople.

Szigetvár arrived in the Ottoman capital two days later and then steamed to Dedeagac in East Thrace, followed by visits to other ports in the Aegean through late February.

Szigetvár visited Smyrna again thereafter, followed by Marmaris in early March, where she met the ships of the Austro-Hungarian Levant Squadron, at that time the three battleships of the Erzherzog Karl class.

She was recalled in January 1911, returning home by way of a lengthy tour of Greece that included passage through the Corinth Canal, arriving in Teodo on 28 February.

[13] New wireless equipment was installed in early 1913, after which she was sent to replace the protected cruiser Kaiserin Elisabeth as the station ship in the Ottoman Empire.

She departed Pola on 10 June and arrived in Constantinople five days later before embarking on a tour of Ottoman ports in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean.

The next day, she and Monarch returned to Budua, this time escorted by four destroyers and five torpedo boats; they also shelled the radio station at Volovica.

Italy had long sought to seize parts of Austria-Hungary where significant numbers of Italians lived, and the Entente promised these areas in the event of their victory in the war.

Italy signed the Treaty of London on 26 April and eight days later formally withdrew from the Triple Alliance, signalling the imminent start of hostilities.

On 23 May, she moved to Cattaro Bay, where she replaced the old torpedo cruiser Zara, which had until 15 June served as the harbor guard ship.