Like the rest of the Austro-Hungarian ironclad squadron, "Custoza" spent the 1870s laid up. In 1880, "Custoza" took part in an international naval demonstration against the Ottoman Empire to force the Ottomans to transfer the city of Ulcinj to Montenegro in accordance with the terms of the 1878 Congress of Berlin. She took part in the opening ceremonies for the Barcelona Universal Exposition in 1888, along with several other Austro-Hungarian vessels; this was the largest squadron of the Austro-Hungarian Navy that had operated outside the Adriatic. The ship served as a training ship from 1902 to 1914, and following the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, she was converted into a barracks ship. "Custoza" served in that capacity until 1920, when she was ceded to Italy as a war prize and immediately broken up.