[1][2] These were ships built during the Second World War and modernized from 1959 within the FRAM I program, which were in service with the United States Navy until their delivery to Spain.

Ships similar to these were delivered by the United States Navy to most of its allies during the same time, and some of them were in service until the early 21st century.

These ships were similar in their equipment to the modernized Oquendo class, were an important reinforcement for the Spanish Navy in the 1970s, actively participating in national and international maneuvers.

Blas de Lezo, when it served as USS Noa in the United States Navy, was the ship in charge of recovery from the sea in 1962 of John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth.

Blas de Lezo was part of the fleet in control of the strait during the Desert Storm operation in 1991, at which time, due to the shortage of escorts in the Navy, some of these ships operated alongside the Alpha Group, carrying out maritime control tasks in the Eastern Mediterranean.