It was a modified Dryad-class torpedo gunboat which were in service with the Royal Navy during the same period.

The Patria was ordered from the British shipbuilder Laird Brothers and built at their Birkenhead shipyard, at a price of £87,000 to replace the torpedo boat ARA Rosales , which had sunk at Cabo Polonio in 1892.

Patria was of similar design to the contemporary Dryad-class torpedo gunboats building for the British Royal Navy, but had a flush deck to improve seakeeping.

In January and February 1902 it participated in the naval exercises as part of the 2nd Sea Division, led by Counter admiral Manuel José García-Mansilla.

Toward the end of its career it served as a survey vessel, finally being decommissioned in 1927 by General Order No.