Deodoro-class coastal defense ship
The Deodoro class were two French-designed and -built coastal defense battleships built for the Brazilian Navy in the late 1890s. Upon their completion, Scientific American called them small vessels of a type "built only for second-rate naval powers," but also noted that it was a "wonder ... so much armor and armament could be carried" on a ship of its size.[1] They served the Brazilian Navy as its only modern armored warships until the arrival of two dreadnoughts in 1910.[2]
 Deodoro
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Deodoro class |
| Builders | Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, La Seyne, France |
| Operators | |
| Preceded by | Javary class |
| Succeeded by | None |
| Built | 1898-1899 |
| In service | 1900-1936 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Retired | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Coastal defence battleship |
| Displacement | 3,162 tons standard |
| Length | 81.5 meters |
| Beam | 14.4 meters |
| Draught | 4.19 meters |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Complement | 200 |
| Armament |
|
| Armour |
|
| Notes | In 1912 both vessels were modernized with 8 Babcock & Wilcox oil-firing boilers, replacing the coal-fired boilers. 400 t of oil were carried. |
About
editThe ships had a low freeboard and long superstructures with single-gun main turrets arranged at each end. Their secondary batteries were also mounted at each end of the superstructure, albeit in casemates in each corner. All used British Armstrong guns.[3]
In 1912, both ships were overhauled with new propulsion and armament.[2] In 1924, Brazil sold Marshal Deodoro to the Mexican Navy.[4] She served for another 14 years, primarily as a training vessel.[citation needed]
Deodoro-class coast-defense ships
editReferences
edit- ^ "The New Brazilian Armorclad 'Marshal Deodoro'". Scientific American. 82 (12): 184. 24 March 1900. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican03241900-184a.
- ^ a b Lyon, p. 407
- ^ Lyon, pp. 403–404
- ^ The New International Year Book. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. 1925. p. 505.
Bibliography
edit- Lyon, Hugh (1979). "Brazil". In Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.