War in February 1864, when she was mobilized into the coastal defense flotilla. She saw no action during the war, and in April was transferred to the Reserve Division, along with her sisters Comet, , and . In August and September, Camäleon and much of the Prussian fleet visited the Baltic Sea ports of the conquered territories of Schleswig and Holstein; at the end of September, she began a survey of the Holstein coast that lasted into October. Camäleon was employed in the area of Hörup Haff and Alsen. At the end of March 1865, the Reserve Division was dissolved. Camäleon was sent to assist the corvette , which had run aground in the Fehmarn Belt, but Camäleon herself ran aground off Friedrichsort while en route. After being pulled free, she was transferred to the Jade Bay to conduct survey work with Comet and the aviso . In September, Camäleon was assigned to the gunnery school along with the old frigate . Camäleon served in the gunnery school briefly, before being decommissioned at Dänholm on 1 December. At some point in 1865, the boat's 24-pounder was replaced with a rifled 68-pounder gun. The ship remained out of service during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and next saw active duty in 1867, when she was recommissioned on 12 March for service as a tender in Kiel. On 15 October, she retrieved the main anchor from the corvette , which had been lost during an emergency anchoring. Camäleon remained in Kiel through 1868. During this period, she towed the steamer and carried a 75-pounder gun to the coastal fortification on Friedrichsort on 30 March. On 16 April and 25 May, Prince Adalbert of Prussia came aboard to visit the ship. She carried Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia to Sonderburg on 15–16 June. A boiler explosion that destroyed one of her boilers forced her decommissioning on 26 August for repairs. She remained laid up until the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in July 1870. She was stationed as a guard ship off Friedrichsort for the duration of the conflict. On 1 April 1871, with the war all but over, Camäleon was decommissioned again. She was stricken from the naval register on 19 March 1872, owing to her poor condition. The ship was used as a harbor vessel in Kiel, and later converted into a coal storage hulk. While in Kiel, parts of the