"São Paulo" was christened by Régis de Oliveira, the wife of Brazil's minister to Great Britain, and launched at Barrow-in-Furness on 19 April 1909 with many South American diplomats and naval officers in attendance. The ship was commissioned on 12 July, and after fitting-out and sea trials, it left Greenock on 16 September 1910. Shortly thereafter, it stopped in Cherbourg, France, to embark the Brazilian President Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca. Departing on the 27th, "São Paulo" sailed to Lisbon, Portugal, where Fonseca was a guest of Portugal's King Manuel II. Soon after they arrived the 5 October 1910 revolution began, which caused the fall of the Portuguese monarchy. Although the president offered political asylum to the king and his family, the offer was refused. A rumor that the king was on board, circulated by newspapers and reported to the Brazilian legation in Paris, led revolutionaries to attempt to search the ship, but they were denied permission. They also asked for Brazil to land marines "to help in the maintenance of order", but this request was also denied. "São Paulo" left Lisbon on 7 October for Rio de Janeiro, and docked there on 25 October.