Destructor displaced 348 long tons (354 t), and was equipped with triple-expansion engines generating 3,784 horsepower (2,822 kW), for a maximum speed of 22.6 knots (41.9 km/h),[7] which made her one of the faster ships in the world by 1888.

[4] In terms of gunnery, speed and dimensions, the specialised design to chase torpedo boats and her high seas capabilities, Destructor is widely considered the first torpedo-boat destroyer ever built,[9][10][11] and was described as such by British naval engineer Sir William Henry White.

The aim of the new destroyer design was not only to neutralize the torpedo boat as an effective weapon, but also to replace it as a faster and more reliable torpedo-carrying warship.

In 1884 Capitan de Navio Fernando Villaamil was appointed the second officer in the Ministry of the Spanish Navy and was tasked with the design of a new class of warship intended to fight the then new torpedo boats.

Twenty-four hours after leaving Falmouth England, the DESTRUCTOR reached the Spanish coast, making 18 kn (33 km/h) through a stormy Bay of Biscay.