As built, "Charlotte" was equipped with a full ship rig to supplement their steam engines on overseas cruising missions, but this was later reduced to a barque rig. In 1903–1905, "Charlotte" was modernized, which involved the removal of the second engine and two of the boilers. The remaining six boilers were replaced with newer equipment. This reduced her speed to from , though her cruising range was increased to at her maximum speed. "Charlotte" was armed with a battery of eighteen L/22 breech-loading hoop guns, six of which were later removed in 1899; these were supplied with a total of 1868 shells for her guns. These guns had a range of . She also had two SK L/30 quick-firing guns and six Hotchkiss revolver cannon. In 1899, her secondary armament was revised to a pair of SK L/35 guns, sixteen of the 8.8 cm SK L/30 guns and four of the Hotchkiss cannon. The keel for "Charlotte" was laid down on 2 April 1883 at the "Kaiserliche Werft" (Imperial Shipyard) in Wilhelmshaven, under the contract name "Ersatz" , as a replacement for the older corvette. She was launched on 5 September 1885; this was delayed significantly by budget cuts from the "Reichstag" (Imperial Diet). At her launching ceremony, then-prince Wilhelm christened the ship for his sister, Princess Charlotte. The corvette was commissioned on 1 November 1886 and she began sea trials, which ended on 28 January 1887, though she remained out of service for more than a year. "Charlotte" was commissioned for active service on 22 September 1888 to replace the corvette , which was in need of repair. "Charlotte" took her place in the Training Squadron, and she took aboard her first contingent of 50 cadets and 230 "Schiffsjungen" from the 1887 crew year. She joined the rest of the Squadron for a training cruise to the Mediterranean Sea, leaving Wilhelmshaven on 29 September. While on the cruise, "Charlotte" participated in a celebration commemorating the 25th anniversary of King George I of Greece from 27 October to 5 November in Piraeus. The ships of the squadron also visited ports in Austria-Hungary, Italy, and in the Levant in the course of their voyage. They arrived back in Kiel, Germany on 16 April 1889, after which "Charlotte" moved to Wilhelmshaven, where she was decommissioned on 25 April.