Compared to contemporary foreign designs, the Bustamante class was considered outclassed, with poor armament and a lack of speed.

The law also authorised a large shipbuilding construction programme, with three battleships, three destroyers, 24 torpedo boats and 4 gunboats to be completed by 1914.

They were powered by steam turbines, fed by Yarrow or Normand boilers and driving three propeller shafts.

[3] By the time they entered service, the Bustamante class were outclassed by contemporary foreign destroyers, being poorly armed and slow.

[6][7][8] They spent much of their time in a training squadron,[3] and were disposed of in the early 1930s, with Cadarso being scrapped in 1930, Bustamante in 1931 and Villaamil in 1932.