"Asahi Maru" was already obsolete by the time of her completion, and she was no match as a warship for the steam-powered vessels of the western powers. She was used primarily as a troop transport by the Tokugawa Navy, and although part of the Tokugawa forces at the Second Chōshū expedition, she made a negligible contribution. After the Boshin War, she was sold by new Meiji government to a private shipowner, and became a coastal transport.