On the 13th of December 1886 the twin-screw torpedo cruiser Destructor built by Messrs. Thomson of Clydebank for the Spanish Government underwent her official trial in the presence of a Commission of Spanish naval officers appointed by the Minister of Marine. A mean speed of 22.65 knots was maintained for four hours. The weight carried being equivalent to the vessel's full armament of; one 9 centimetre gun, four six-pounder rapid firing guns and two 47 millimetre Hotchkiss revolving canons, with all their ammunition, five torpedo tubes and ten torpedoes; the crew, their provisions and personal effects, all spare gear, tools, and fresh water for the machinery; the vessel was complete in all respects and ready to go to sea with sufficient coal to travel 1,800 knots at 11 and a half knots. The Destructor had two triple-expansion engines, each capable of developing 2000 indicated horsepower at 350 revolutions per minute with steam supplied by four locomotive marine boilers, each housed in a separate watertight compartment.