In addition to her impact in German warship design, Zieten also influenced numerous other navies, who built dozens of similar avisos and torpedo vessels of their own.

In 1869, the Prussian Navy sent then-Korvettenkapitän (KK) Alexander von Monts to Austria to examine the new Whitehead torpedoes then being developed there.

Initially, Zieten had only a small bridge forward, but in 1899, a new superstructure was built; it included a conning tower with a compass platform.

[9] The ship's propulsion system consisted of two horizontal 2-cylinder double-expansion steam engines manufactured by John Penn and Sons.

Steam was provided by six coal-fired, cylindrical fire-tube boilers, also manufactured by John Penn and Sons, which were vented through a single funnel amidships.

At the time of the ship's commissioning, Otto von Diederichs served aboard Zieten as her executive officer in her first crew.

On 18 September, Zieten and Scorpion participated in the first major test of the new Whitehead torpedoes in the German navy, which was observed by Stosch.

The analysis of the testing showed that the bow-mounted torpedo tube was not satisfactory, and so Diederichs was tasked with redesigning her armament in January 1878.

Diederichs moved the bow tube to a swivel mount on her deck, and added two 12 cm guns to improve her defense against small warships.

[15] After the ship returned to service in May 1878, she carried out experiments in the area off Friedrichsort, and thereafter began training sailors in the use of torpedoes, which the navy intended to install aboard larger vessels.

The demonstrations led to plans to place torpedo-armed launches aboard the fleet's ironclads, though priority was given to development of the torpedoes themselves.

The new screw corvette Blücher had recently been completed as a purpose-built torpedo training vessel, and she replaced Zieten in that role.

[11] Zieten underwent a major overhaul in 1881 and was recommissioned on 27 June under the command of KL Wilhelm Büchsel; on 16 August, she was reclassified as an aviso.

The ship was present for a naval review held for Kaiser Wilhelm I on 17 September, during which she hosted Generalfeldmarschall Helmuth von Moltke.

[17] Five days later, Zieten joined a cruising squadron that consisted of the screw corvettes Gneisenau and Nymphe, the steamer Loreley, and the gunboat Cyclop, for operations in the Mediterranean Sea.

The ships were present during the British bombardment of Alexandria in August 1882; they sent men ashore to protect the German embassy, along with a German-run hospital.

She was reactivated on 30 July 1886 to take part in the fleet maneuvers that were carried out in the North and Baltic Seas, before being decommissioned again on 29 September.

[20] In July, Zieten joined a squadron of ships to take the newly crowned Kaiser Wilhelm II for a tour of Baltic ports, which included a visit to Tsar Alexander III of Russia.

The ship was next recommissioned on 1 May 1889, and that year she joined the Training Squadron that escorted Wilhelm II on a visit to the United Kingdom.

Zieten was reactivated on 30 April 1892 under KK Emil Freiherr von Lyncker's command and was assigned to what was now I Division of the Maneuver Fleet.

[23] Zieten was next recommissioned on 16 March 1897 for service as a fishery protection vessel, replacing the aviso Meteor in that role.

She served in this capacity for the next seventeen years, cruising as far north as Iceland, as far west as the English Channel, and into the Skagerrak and Kattegat.

During the winter months, when fishing vessels did not generally operate, Zieten would be laid up in Wilhelmshaven with a reduced crew.

[24] In 1898, the navy planned a major cruise into the Arctic Ocean, but Zieten was not suitable for the voyage, so her crew was transferred to the screw corvette Olga instead.

Zieten returned to Wilhelmshaven on 19 August to have her boilers overhauled, after which she joined the fleet maneuvers being carried out in the Baltic.

During large-scale maneuvers held in conjunction with the German Army, Zieten served as a convoy escort for a group of troopships carrying IX Corps to Amrun.

Following the conclusion of the exercises, KK Friedrich von Bülow took command of the vessel, serving in that role to September of the following year.

She seized several British vessels illegally fishing in German waters in 1912, during which time the ship was commanded by KK Erich von Zeppelin.

[29] Following the start of World War I in late July 1914, Zieten was mobilized as part of the German coastal defense forces.

Zieten was decommissioned on 5 July, nearly forty-three years after her first commissioning; she was the second-longest serving vessel of the Imperial German fleet, after the aviso Grille.