The class is based on the Royal Netherlands Navy's Kortenaer class and was built in a Dutch shipyard; however, unlike later members of its class in the Hellenic Navy, it was not originally in Dutch service but was sold directly to Greece.

[1] The Elli was built at the Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde in Vlissingen, Holland, along with the frigate Limnos as part of a commission for the two ships from the Greek government.

Her maiden voyage was on 10 October 1981 under her first captain, Grigoris Demestihas.

The Elli took part in the Persian Gulf War from 1990–91, enforcing the UN resolution on Iraq in the neighborhood of the Red Sea.

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