She proved to be poorly designed, being too slow for use as a fleet scout or as a flotilla leader for torpedo boats, so she saw little active service.

Upon entering service, Zara was found to have several significant defects; she rolled badly, was insufficiently ventilated, and her bow-mounted torpedo tube did not work as effectively as intended.

[2] In September, Zara participated in a demonstration of the fleet's torpedo vessels for Kaiser Franz Joseph I in Pola.

Franz Joseph came aboard Zara to observe a group of torpedo boats launch an attack against an old schooner.

She remained out of service from 1890 to 17 March 1894, when she was recommissioned to assist a British steamship, SS Palmyra, which had run aground off Medolino.

Work was finished in 1899 and sea trials were conducted from 14 to 26 August, during which Zara reached a speed of 10.94 knots (20.26 km/h; 12.59 mph).

She was converted into a guard ship on 28 June and stationed in Cattaro Bay, the same day that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, the catalyst for the start of World War I a month later.

At 12:55 while cruising off the island of Lacroma, an accidental explosion tore a large hole in the bow, though the damage was above the waterline, allowing Zara to make port in Ragusa.

The shipyard there effected temporary repairs to ensure her hull was strong enough to allow her to continue on to Pola, which she reached on 26 June.

In Pola, a commission determined that the cause of the explosion was a badly deteriorated warhead in one of her two torpedoes,[7] though some later sources state she struck a naval mine.

With Austria-Hungary's defeat, the Allies seized most of the Austro-Hungarian fleet as war prizes, and Zara was allocated to Italy, which scrapped her by 1921.