As a result, Conte Verde saw little use in her nine years in service. In 1873, the ship was assigned to the 1st Division of the main unit of the Italian fleet, the Permanent Squadron; the other vessels of the division were the ironclads and . Together with the ships of the 2nd Division, the entire squadron cruised in the Mediterranean that year. In February, Conte Verde steamed Portugal to visit the capital, Lisbon. She departed on 4 March and returned to Italy, stopping in Gaeta before arriving in Naples. The ship was stricken from the naval register in 1880, but was not actually broken up for scrap until 1898. The Navy discarded both of her sisters, along with the ironclad between 1875 and 1880 to remove the cost of maintaining them from the naval budget, as part of an effort to reduce the financial impact of the new and es then under construction.
