Petronila′s construction was authorized along with that of her two sister ships, the screw frigates Berenguela and Reina Blanca, by a royal order of either 8 August[1] or 8 October[1][2] 1853 (according to different sources).

[2] When she was assigned to the naval base at Havana in the Captaincy General of Cuba for duty with the Spanish Navy squadron in the Caribbean, she had to enter a commercial drydock for further repairs after she began to take on an excessive amount of water.

[2] On 2 August 1863, Petronila, still under Martínez′s command, got underway from Havana to make a month-long cruise along the northwestern coast of Cuba between Matanzas and Cape San Antonio.

[2] On the afternoon of 9 August, Isabel la Católica returned with the gunboat Conde de Venadito, also a sidewheel paddle steamer, to begin an effort to salvage Petronila, bringing divers and equipment such as pumps.

[2] On 21 August 1863 she was deemed lost, and salvage work shifted to the recovery of her guns, machinery, and other valuable equipment, which the corvette Niña transported to Havana.