Veinticinco de Mayo was a steam-powered protected cruiser similar to Piemonte built in the same shipyard for the Royal Italian Navy, but improved and larger.

In 1890 the Argentine government led by President Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman decided to purchase a new cruiser due to the dispute with Chile concerning the application of the boundary Treaty of 1881.

The Argentine representative to the United Kingdom, Dr. Luis L. Domínguez, signed a £ 260,000 (1,310,410 Gold Pesos) contract with shipyard W. Armstrong, Mitchell & Co., in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, for the construction of a 3,500-ton cruiser which would be called Necochea.

Before its completion it was decided to change its name to Veinticinco de Mayo ("25th May"), the tenth Argentine Navy ship with this name, and was launched on March 5, 1890 under that name.

After that mission Veinticinco de Mayo was sent to Río Santiago in reserve, commanded by Frigate captain Enrique Thorne.