She belonged to the series popularly known as the 12 apostles or the Apostolate, all constructed simultaneously in the same shipyard by the British shipwright Rooth between 1753 and 1755 using the English method or by Jorge Juan y Santacilia.
In April 1755 she was anchored in ordinary at the Arsenal de la Carraca, where it was found that she leaked and her wood rotted easily as with other ships built using the Gaztañeta method.
From August 1755 onwards she underwent several modifications before being stationed at Cartagena to fight Algerian pirates as part of Gutierre de Hevia's squadron between 1759 and 1761.
On 6 June 1762 she was surprised in the Bay of Havana by a British squadron of 53 ships of the line and 25,000 soldiers and sailors under admiral George Pocock.
Her captain Vicente González-Valor y Bassecourt, marqués de González was killed in the defence of El Morro and replaced by Diego Argote.