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

She was involved in the Boxer Rebellion in Qing China in 1900, sending landing parties ashore as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance to guard the Legation Quarter and to fight in the Battle of the Taku Forts.

She was cruising off that country's coast to enforce another blockade on 16 August when she and the destroyer Ulan encountered the main French battle fleet.

Some 139 men, including her commander Paul Pachner, swam to shore, where they were captured by Montenegrin forces and imprisoned until 1916 when the Austro-Hungarian Army overran the country.

She left Pola on 10 November 1899 and relieved the homeward-bound station ship, the protected cruiser Kaiserin Elisabeth, in Colombo, British Ceylon between 22 and 28 December.

From there, she crossed to Japan, where the ship was on 30 May when the worsening Boxer Rebellion prompted the European diplomats in the country to request forces to guard the Legation Quarter.

Zenta joined the international fleet that assembled as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance off the Taku Forts on 2 June; she operated there for the next twenty days.

The armored cruiser Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia arrived in Taku two days later and her commander took control of Austro-Hungarian naval forces in the region.

Later that month visited Montevideo, Uruguay, staying there until 6 June when she crossed the Río de la Plata to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The ship then continued north, stopping in Dakar, French Senegal a week later and then Tenerife in the Canary Islands in Spain, arriving there in early August.

From there, she began the last leg of the trip, stopping in Corfu, Greece from 22 September and then passing through Trieste on 2 October, where she was present for the launching of the pre-dreadnought battleship Erzherzog Karl.

The summer's training activities began on 15 June, and throughout the maneuvers, which lasted through 15 September, Zenta continued in her role as the flotilla leader.

She was present for a visit of the British Royal Navy in Pola, including the pre-dreadnought HMS Bulwark, the cruisers Furious and Pandora, and the torpedo gunboat Speedy.

During the maneuvers, which concluded with a simulated amphibious assault that was observed by Archduke Franz Ferdinand, she served with the battleships of II Heavy Division.

[11][15] On 16 March 1909, Zenta was recommissioned to join an international naval demonstration off the coast of the Levant; the Austro-Hungarian contingent also included the armored cruiser Kaiser Karl VI and the torpedo gunboat Magnet.

The infection began to spread and on 1 May, another man had to be hospitalized in Cattaro; Zenta was ordered to return to Pola to be quarantined in Fasana the next day.

Forty of the cadets were sent ashore to be hospitalized, another sixty were transferred to the tender Spalato, and the remainder were kept aboard to help disinfect the ship.

[22] At around 08:30, lookouts in the French fleet spotted smoke on the horizon as they steamed north, prompting Boué de Lapeyrère to turn his ships to investigate.

The Austro-Hungarians had in turn spotted the approaching French fleet, and so moved closer to shore to flee north, hoping the coastline would obscure them.

Zenta fired her 12 cm guns, though they fell some 300 to 400 m (980 to 1,310 ft) short, and would not have inflicted damage on the heavily armored battleships in any event.

The slower Zenta attempted to evade French gunfire, but she quickly received several hits that disabled her engines and set her on fire by about 09:12.

At 09:20, Boué de Lapeyrère ordered his ships to cease fire, by which time Zenta was burning badly and settling by the stern.

By 09:30, Zenta's bow lurched upward at an angle of 45 degrees and quickly sank around 4 to 5 nmi (7.4 to 9.3 km; 4.6 to 5.8 mi) off the coast of Castellastua, her flags still flying.

Ulan, meanwhile, successfully fled north, having been pursued by the French destroyer screen and the armored cruiser Jurien de la Gravière.