Following post-shakedown repairs and alterations at Norfolk, "Amphitrite" sailed on 20 November 1895 for Annapolis, Maryland, arriving there on the following day. Dropping down to the York River and Lynnhaven Bay soon thereafter, the monitor conducted target practice at Hampton Roads before returning to Norfolk. She then proceeded south from Norfolk on 13 December 1895 for the lower eastern seaboard of the United States. She visited Charleston, South Carolina en route, and reached Key West on 9 January 1896. She remained at Key West, drilling naval militia, for six months, departing the Florida port on 10 June for a succession of ports, Brunswick, Savannah, and Southport, ultimately arriving back at Norfolk on 29 June. She served on naval militia instruction at Norfolk until 9 July, when she accompanied the Atlantic Squadron on drills off Tolchester Beach, Maryland. She spent the next several months operating between Norfolk, Charleston, and Tompkinsville, Staten Island, into early May 1897. While operating out of Charleston between February and April 1897, she conducted underway training on the average of three days per month.