[1] It has been located at the shore of the Jamapa River, in the municipality of Boca del Río, Veracruz, as a museum ship.

The ship was commissioned by the Mexican government between 1931 and 1933 from the Spanish shipyard Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval del Ferrol (also known as Astillero El Ferrol),[2] along with the transport ship Durango, gunboats Querétaro and Potosí and ten coastguards.

Although it was initially planned as a warship, during the Second World War the Guanajuato served as a convoy escort in Central America.

[4][5] Along the two years, the ship travelled to Mexico, Brasil, Argentina, Chile and Peru.

[6] Among the proposed repairs were the installation of concrete base that would settle the Guanajuato in the river, rather than floating in the shore.