At the start of the Greco-Turkish War in February 1897, Necm-i Şevket was assigned to the II Squadron. The Ottomans inspected the fleet and found that almost all of the vessels, including Necm-i Şevket, to be completely unfit for combat against the Greek Navy. Many of the ships had rotted hulls and their crews were poorly trained. Necm-i Şevket was one of two ironclads found to be in usable condition, the other being . In April and May, the ship escorted troopships transporting infantry from western Anatolia to Gelibolu, and while conducting these operations, she took part in gunnery exercises. On 15 May, Necm-i Şevket and the ironclads Mesudiye, , , and , along with several other vessels conducted a major training exercise, where severe deficiencies in the level of training were revealed, particularly with the men's ability to operate the ships' guns. In September 1897, the war came to an end, and the Ottoman fleet returned to Constantinople.
