Ministro Portales participated in the counteractive measures to the Operation Soberanía during the Beagle conflict in 1978. In this period, all the Chilean navy ships were camouflaged.
The vessel served the navy of Chile until it was taken off active duty and towed from Talcahuano to Puerto Williams, arriving at the wharf on 18 September 1991. There, it was a static support vessel for the local torpedo boat fleet until their replacement by missile boats.
On 11 November 1998, Ministro Portales was used as a target and sunk during a practice exercise.