Constructed by the British shipbuilders Armstrong Mitchell in the early 1880s, "Esmeralda" was hailed as "the swiftest and most powerfully armed cruiser in the world" by William Armstrong, the company's founder. "Esmeralda" was completed in 1884, and the ship was quickly deployed to Panama in the following year to show the Chilean flag and conduct gunboat diplomacy during an emerging crisis in the region. The cruiser was later used to support the Congressionalist cause during the 1891 Chilean Civil War.