"Nymphe" was completed in time for the Second Schleswig War with Denmark in 1864, seeing action at the Battle of Jasmund, where she was heavily engaged, but only slightly damaged by a Danish frigate. During the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–1871, "Medusa" was blockaded in Yokohama, Japan, and saw no action. "Nymphe" was similarly blockaded in Danzig, Prussia, and she made a surprise nighttime attack on the French squadron, inflicting no damage but nevertheless convincing the French admiral that his ironclad warships were unsuitable for a close blockade of Prussian ports. Both ships went on extended cruises abroad during peacetime, and in the mid-1870s they were converted into training ships. In this guise, both vessels continued to make overseas cruises; "Medusa" was withdrawn from service in 1880 and hulked, but "Nymphe" remained in service until 1887, when she too was hulked. The two ships were sold for scrap in 1891 and thereafter broken up.