She was laid down on 20 June 1886 and launched on 24 February 1887 at the J&G Thomson shipyard in Govan, United Kingdom.
She had 2 triple expansion engines driving a single screw propeller and 4 cylindrical boilers.
On 10 March 1895, Reina Regente departed Tangier in Morocco for the port of Cádiz, Spain, with a crew of 420 on board under the command of Captain Francisco Sanz de Andino.
Sanz de Andino ordered the unscheduled voyage because he wanted to witness the launching of the modern armored cruiser Carlos V in Cádiz the following day.
As Reina Regente passed through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Gulf of Cádiz a severe storm struck the area and she went down with all hands lost.