She was ordered by a Royal Decree on 31 March 1926, as part of a naval construction project headed by Counter Admiral Honorio Cornejo.

[2] Along with her sister ship Almirante Cervera, she took part in the repression of the 1934 Asturias Revolution, shelling the neighborhood of Cimadevilla and, along with the battleship Jaime I, transporting troops and munitions to Gijón.

[1] The Republican squadron, consisting of Jaime I, Libertad, Miguel de Cervantes and seven Churruca-class destroyers met at the Tangier International Zone on 20 July and blockaded the Strait.

On 22 November 1936, Miguel de Cervantes was hit by torpedoes fired by the Italian submarine Evangelista Torricelli while anchored off the port of Cartagena.

She was stricken on 1 July 1964 and sold for scrap at public auction later that month, being purchased by to Joaquín Balsalobre Pedreño for a price of 31.680.000 pesetas.