Throughout their careers, the three "Hydra"-class ships generally operated together. The ships saw limited action in the Greco–Turkish War in 1897, as the Royal Hellenic Navy was unable to make use of its superiority over the Ottoman Navy. The Ottoman Navy had remained in port during the conflict, but a major naval intervention of the Great Powers prevented the Greeks from capitalizing on their superiority. In the immediate aftermath of the war, the three ships were partially rearmed, with work lasting until 1900. Their small-caliber guns were replaced with one gun forward, eight  guns, four 3-pounders, and ten 1-pounder revolver cannon. One of the 14-inch torpedo tubes was replaced with a weapon.