The ship was acquired by the Argentine navy as part of the South American naval arms race in the 1890s.

Argentina and its rival Chile purchased a series of cruisers in a local naval arms race from the 1890s to 1902, in which Armstrong of Elswick sold ships to both sides, as well as to Brazil.

Nueve de Julio was designed by Philip Watts and was one of a series of fast protected cruisers built by Armstrong (Elswick, England) for export.

Nueve de Julio was therefore similar to its predecessor Piemonte built for Italy, the first cruiser with an all-quick firing armament, and the following Elswick cruiser Yoshino built for Japan, which was the fastest ship in the First Sino-Japanese War and performed well in action.

Originally the torpedo tubes would have been 14-inch (356 mm), the substitution with a larger type delayed its construction.