This Esmeralda was purchased in part with US$1,500,000 in funds garnered from the sale of an earlier protected cruiser of the same name to Japan via Ecuador.

[2] The idea for the design was based on the performance of Japanese firepower and speed in the Battle of the Yalu River.

[6] On 18 December 1907, the ship brought troops from Valparaíso to Iquique to repress thousands of miners from different nitrate mines in Chile's north who were appealing for government intervention to improve their living and working conditions.

[7]: 340 In 1910, it sailed with the cruiser O’Higgins to the naval magazine of Argentina for its centenary.

[3] In 1915, the Chilean Navy claimed that Esmeralda set speed and accuracy world records in big-gun shooting.