Damaged when she ran aground in early 1873, she was under repair in the United States during the Virginius Affair later that year as tensions rose between the US and Spain over the incident.

The engine was designed to produce a total of 2,400 indicated horsepower (1,800 kW) which gave the ship a speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph).

She was laid down in June 1861 as an unarmored frigate, but began her conversion into an ironclad in August 1862[4] when roughly 200 long tons (203 t) of armor was added.

[4] Arapiles ran aground in early 1873 off the Venezuelan coast and was sent to Brooklyn, New York for repairs that lasted from May to January 1874.

During the Virginius Affair later that year, a lighter sank, blocking the drydock gates in which Arapiles was being repaired as tensions rose between the United States and Spain.