The Chilean Navy ordered six ships from J. Samuel White in 1911. These destroyers were larger and more powerful than contemporary British destroyers. The Condell was built by the United Kingdom as part of a six-ship Almirante Lynch class of destroyers, of which only two ships were delivered before the outbreak of war. Those two ships served in the Chilean Navy until 1945. This ship was named after Admiral Carlos Condell, Chilean sailor, hero of the War of the Pacific.