República Riograndense AU

Here is the initial draft for an AU ive been building for a few months - basically a what if scenario where the rebels won the Ragamuffin War in Brazil, FYI i have only been drawing for a few months so my ships may not be the prettiest - any comments and suggestions are appreciated!
-This AU takes place in 1917, history of any ships will not be discussed that postdates this year. I may refer to 'the present', this means 1 September 1917-
-All ships are depicted in their original condition and in the pre-war 1914 standard cream colour scheme suitable to hot weather-

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National Flag

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Map of South America, 1917

The República Riograndense, 1917

Population: 3.6 million

Demonym(s): Riograndese, Riverês

Languages: -Official: Portugese; Common: German, Italian, English

Currency: Riogradense Silva

Top 5 Exports: Lumber, Manufactured Goods, Iron Ore, Cereals, Rubber

Top 5 Imports: Coal, Building Materials, Meat, Copper, Ship-Grade Steel

Key Industrial Firms/Sites: Sociedade de Construção Naval, Grupo Industrial de Porto Alegre, Camara Estalario, Conselho Nacional de Madeira

Government: Constitutional Presidential Republic (1836-1864) Unitary Parlimentary Republic (1864-) Term Limit : 2 Terms (12 Years)

Leaders (entitled President) Bento Gonçalves (1836-1847) Antônio de Sousa Neto (1847-1866) Ricciardo de Alegre (1866-1878) Manuel de Lima e Silva (1878-1890) Luis Trinkenschuh (1890 - 1902) Luis de Jacui 1902-1917)

Capital :Porto Alegre

Conscription: Yes (all men must complete 10 months of military service once reaching 17 years of age, all eligible for conscription age 17-45)

Armed Forces:

Força de Defesa Nacional da República (National Defence Force of the Republic): 73,000

Marinha da República (Navy of the Republic): 27,000 - 38 ships (26 Ocean Going - 12 Riverine) (Not counting auxiliaries)

Braço Aéreo da República (Republic Air Arm): 2,100

Esquadrão Aéreo Naval (Naval Air Squadron): 120

Organisation of the Marinha da República

History of the República Riograndense
The timeline diviates from ours in 1830, so this will be when i write from.

Rebellion
At the turn of the 1830s, the Rio Grande do Sul province of Brazil was a region facing economic stagnation. The province was primarily an agricultural economy, but cheaper products from Argentina and Uruguay had begun to take an effect on the province's economy as foreign markets dried up. Calls for aid from the Imperial Government in Sao Paulo were ignored. Resentment, which had been previously bubbling under the surface was on the brink of erupting into a full-scale rebellion. The Act of Uniformity in 1833, published by the Imperial Government further restricted the freedom of the people to curb resentment, however in 1836 full scale rebellion erupted when a group of 102 labourers were executed by Imperial Troops for protesting outside the Governer’s house in Porto Alegre on 10 May 1836. Rebels quickly captured key cities such as Rio Grande and the town of Piratini. Here Bento Goncalves officially declared the República Riograndense on 15th August 1836. Piratini was made the Republic’s first capital. Goncalves was then declared the president of the fledgling states. The years of 1837 and 1838 were spent consolidating the frontlines and formalising the army, mostly made of the rebellious remnants of the Brazilian Southern Army and a small contingent of Italians accompanied by Giuseppe Garibaldi. On 7 September 1839 through to the 15th, the rebels captured the provincial capital of Porto Alegre. Here the Marinha da República was created with the remnants of the Brazilian southern fleet that had not been burned or destroyed, mainly 2 small sail frigates with 20 guns, as well as a large paddle steam ship named Riogrande. This new force was enough to gain control of the Lago dos Patos and the nearby coastal waters. The Republic financed the rebellion mostly by selling agricultural goods from the southern region to Argentina and Uruguay, who in return provided guns and volunteer troops. The turning point of the war occurred in 21 January 1844, when a force of 2,400 men led by Bento Goncalves and Garibaldi defeated a Brazilian force of 3,200 at the Battle of Blumenau. This gave an open road to move up Brazil to the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. This threat forced the Brazilians to sue for peace. On 5 March 1844 the Empire of Brazil acknowledged the independence of the Republic.

Emergence and Modernization
Following the independence of the Republic in 1844, Bento Goncalves did not have much time to enact reforms as he died in the autumn of 1847. He was succeeded by co-war general Antônio de Sousa Neto. Neto spent the 12 years of his term reorganizing the economy of the Republic and Forming various ministries to control various parts of national affairs. His presidency was a time of peace for the Republic, and saw a visible improvement in quality-of-life as well as a 35% growth in GDP compared to levels when it was a Imperial Province, as the Republic was no longer constricted by government involvement. This period of growth continued into the presidency of Ricciardo de Alegre. Alegre had been educated in Britain and was extremely young for a head of state at just 32 years old. Maybe it was somewhat inevitable that Alegre would seek to industrialize the Republic. He studied the history of the rebellion and recognised that an agricultural economy had great potential for unrest. As such he enacted the ‘Act of National Emergence’, which set aside a large amount of government budget to subsidize industry support manufacturing and grow towns. By the end of Alegre’s presidency in 1878 the GDP of the republic had risen by more than doubled compared to levels before his presidency, whilst GDP per capita had risen by 60%. Furthermore, manufacturing exports now made up 55% of the Republic’s economy. The national shipyard at Porto Alegre was completed in 1868 and the first domestic warship, the steam frigate Farrapos was completed in 1870. The economy and society boomed through the 1880s and the early 1890s, with the increased amount of money allowing for the expansion of the armed forces, turning the mostly coastal Marinha da República into a very capable ocean-going minor navy. However, this would all change in 1895.

War Returns
Following the recent overthrow of the Brazilian monarchy, the new Brazilian Republic found itself in charge of an unstable and tension filled country. It was decided a unifying factor was needed to quell government resentment and boost national pride. This was, of course retake the rebellious southern province. The 1st War of Brazilian Reclamation was declared on 5 March 1895, deliberately the day Riograndense Republic officially became independent. Foreign analysts predicted the war would be hard fought, but Brazil would prevail due to its much larger army and Navy. However, the Riograndense Republic had used its spare budget to heavily invest in strategic forts on the border, as well as the Army being trained in mostly defensive warfare. This meant that from 1895-early 1897 the Brazilians only made minor progress, whilst losing 12x more men than the Riograndense. A large part of this defence was the advanced cooperation between the navy and army, with many troops able to be quickly relocated to different positions that needed support via fast riverine transports. This lack of progress and heavy casualties had caused a large amount of unrest in Brazil. The nail in the Coffin was the Battle of Sao Goncalo channel on 20 February 1897. This was a decisive Riograndense naval victory, in which the majority of the Riograndense navy snuck up on the Brazilian fleet at night. Despite the loss of an ironclad on the Republic’s side, the Brazilians were heavily defeated with the loss of one of their ironclads as well as 2 monitors, 2 protected cruisers and 4 unprotected cruisers. Upon hearing of this defeat, the Brazilian populous surrounded the parliament building in Rio de Janeiro, demanding the end to a gainless war. Peace was signed, poetically, on 5 March 1897. The resultant treaty saw the republic annex a large amount of the Santa Catarina province as well as being owed a good number of reparations. The Republic’s independence was surely secure.

The only other major conflict the Republic experienced before WW1 was the 1907 war with Uruguay. It evolved out of Uruguayan bandits raiding southern Rio Grande with the Uruguayan government doing nothing to stop it. War was declared on 30 February 1907; however, it was not a bloody conflict, with small scale land combat and the only notable naval Battle being the various torpedo boat operations in the Uruguay River, collectively called the Battle of the Uruguay River. In this action the Republic lost 1 TB and a gunboat, whilst the Uruguayans lost 5 gunboats, a dispatch vessel and 6 merchants. Significant naval losses by the republic were also suffered in the Lago Mirim. The war only lasted 4 months and peace was agreed on 27 June 1907, when the Uruguayans agreed to pay the damage caused by the bandits as well as compensation to the families of dead Riograndense soldiers, although this was a small amount, totalling roughly $6.300.000 today, as only 790 men had been lost combining both sides.

World War
The next major event was the great destruction of 1905, in which a huge fire ripped through Porto Alegre and destroyed 23% of the cities’ factories (19% of factories nationally.) This saw a large depression in the economy as well as the loss of 10s of 1000s of jobs. However, due to swift firefighting action many buildings could be saved, whilst the drawing of banks loans allowed industry to be swiftly rebuilt and by 1911 GDP had passed pre-fire GDP. The navy also saw a large expansion in the years leading to WW1, since the start of the century it had acquired 6 new cruisers, 5 destroyers, 2 gunboats and 4 submarines with a huge battlecruiser under construction. When WW1 broke out in June 1914, the Republic stayed neutral. This continued throughout the year and into early 1915. During this period the only notable tension was 3 Republic merchants sunk by U-Boats, as well as the German cruiser Karlsruhe having been interned in November 1914 (I am working on a drawing of this ship), judging that it was impossible to return to Germany, it was chased into Lago dos Patos by British Cruisers, who were then awarded off by the potential of violating the countries neutrality.

War came to the Republic on 21 February 1915, when the old ironclad Guaiba was torpedoed the SM GU-5, with the loss of 240 men. It turned out later that this was a case of mistaken identity; the Guabia had been mistaken for a British cruiser. This didn’t matter however as the Republic officially declared war on the Central Powers on 24 February 1915, joining the Entente. Throughout the course of the war the Republic’s armed forces have been heavily involved in fighting, the REF (Riograndense Expeditionary Force) being sent to fight in France alongside its European allies, being noted for their extreme effectiveness at repelling much larger German attacks, due to the defence heavy doctrine of the Riograndense Army. The Braço Aéreo da República was also formed in 1916, comprised of 2 Squadrons attached to Air Brigade 1 of the Royal Flying Corps, armed with Nieuport 17s. As of the present they have achieved 24 ariel victories whilst suffering only 7 pilots killed. The Republic’s Navy is also heavily involved in fighting, ships have fought in various famous engagements, such as Dogger Bank, Jutland, The Dover Patrols, and the Otranto Barrage.

The Shipyards

SdCN Rio Grande
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This is the biggest shipyard in the Republic and is state run, the majority of domesitc warships are built here. After the Porto Alegre yards became to crowded much of the manufacturing was moved here around 1887.

SdCN Porto Alegre
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The first effort at a shipyard, things were going well until it couldnt expand due to the urbanised nature of Porto Alegre, by the present the shipyard only builds small monitors and gunboats, a large stake has been sold to private firms to build merchant vessels

Camara Estalario
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The biggest civilian yard in the republic, noted for its innovative and effective ship designs of its owner, Ricciardo Camara.

Prefix : NMR (Navio da Marinha Republicana, Republican Navy Ship)

Total ships, 1917:

Ocean Going

2 Ironclad Center Battery Battleships (Garibaldi, Juliana)
3 Pre-Dreadnought Battleships (Atlantico, Bento Gonçalves, Antônio de Sousa Neto)

1 Battlecruiser (República)

2 Armoured Cruisers (Patriota, Estoica)
4 Light Armoured Cruisers (Independência, Gloriosa, Pederosa, Vitoriosa)
2 Protected Cruisers (General Canabarro, Farrapos)

5 Destroyers (Machado, Martelo, Foice, Florete, Espada)
4 Torpedo Boats (Aguia, Condor, Gravatai, Jugarao)

4 Submarines (Loba, Raposa, Coiote, Guara)

Riverine
WIP

Now, the bit you're all here for
Ship Historys, By Class, Chronologically

Ocean Going Fleet

Battleships

-Garibaldi-Class Central Battery Ironclads
By the early 1880s, the eclectic mix of small ironclads, cunboats and wooden ships that the navy comprised of was becoming quite a burden on supply lines and maintainance. As such, plans were drawn up in 1882 to replace these aging and obsolete vessels with a uniform class of small but powerful ironclads that would act as the backbone for the future fleet. A design competition was held in 1882, with a design from Cammell Laird of Birkenhead being selected. The deisgn called for a ship weighing 6,550 tonnes with a top speed of 17.5 knots, powered by 2 triple expansion steam engines. Armament was quite light for an Ironclad, although good for a ship of its size - 2 British 305mm/25 guns aswell as a secondary battery of 5x152mm and 12x37mm guns. 4 ships were planned with the first, Garibaldi (1888), being laid down in July 1884. the 3 ships sister ships would follow; Piratini (1891), Juliana (1891) and Guaiba (1893), as a side note, the due to its late date of laying down, the Guaiba's design was changed in construction to replace the 205mm guns with 2 270mm Canet Guns aswell as the new Harvey Steel. the ship would be built at Cammel Laird (Garibaldi, Piratini), SdCN Rio Grande (Juliana) and Camara Estalario (Guaiba). Once all the ships were complete they would form the 1st Battle Squadron of the Navy. The ships would be tested in the 1897 Brazil-Riogrande War, were at the Battle of Sao Goncalo Channel, Piratini would be sunk by gunfire from Brazillian ironclads, however in return the squadron sank the Brazillian Riachuelo aswell as heavily damaging Aquidaba and Benjamin Constant. The remaining 3 ships next action would be blockading the Rio de la Plata estruary during the 1907 Uruguay-Riogrande conflict, in which the cumulatively intercepted 5 blockade runners.
On 6 March 1915, Guaiba, along with Garibaldi and the Bento Goncalves were conducting routine patrols off the coast when Guaba was torpedoed and sunk by SM GU-5, 240 out of 318 crew were lost which sparked the entry of the Republic into WW1.
Garibaldi and Juliana were deemed to obsolete to fight in europe, so they have spent their war (up until the present 1917) escorting various convoys in the Southern Atlantic. In 1916 Juliana was rebuilt to test the exprimental 191mm gun that the Royal Navy had developed, along with her secondary battery being ripped out and replaced with various anti aircraft guns.
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Garibaldi, as completed in 1888
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Juliana, as rebuilt in 1916
Ships in Class
-Garibaldi (1888) Extant 1917 - Named after Giussepe Garibaldi, who commanded a large army during the Ragamuffin War.
-Piratini (1891) Sunk 1897 - Named after the first capital of the Republic.
-Juliana (1891) Extant 1917 - Named after the shortlived co-rebellious republic during the Ragamuffin War.
-Guaiba (1893) Sunk 1915 - Named after the Guaiba River.

-Atlantico-Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship
In 1896, the Navy conducted a campaign to raise public funds for a new battleship, these were collected in 1892 and the Navy approached the Samuda Bros. of London to design and construct the new ship. After seeing the new cruiser fielded by the ABC powers (Argentina, Brazil and Chile) The navy requested that the ship be orientated to be more effective against cruisers. Samuda Bros. produced a design for a ship of 6,780 tonnes with a top speed of 17.5 knots. To relfect the design specifications, armament would be 6 234mm/31 guns in a hexagonal layout aswell as a secondary battery of 76mm and 37mm guns. Atlantico wa slaid down in late 1892, and complete in 1896. It wouild be the last ship built by Samuda Bros. before its closure in late 1896. Although Atlantico was determined a pre-dreadnought, it was more akin to the Scandinavian coastal defence ships. During the 1897 war with Brazil, she would hit a mine very early on which broke Atlantico's keel, neccesitating 2 years in drydock under repair. As a result she missed out on all action during said war. This would be redeemed during the 1907 war with Uruguay where she would bombard coastal forts and troop movements. Upon the entry of the Republic into WW1, she was kept in home waters to escort convoys and deter attack my merchant raiders, a duty she is still serving as of 1917.
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Ships in Class
-Atlantico (1896) Extant 1917 - Named for the Atlantic Ocean

-Bento Gonçalves-Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleships
This class was the only class of true pre dreadnoughts over built for the Navy. Remarkably, they were designed an constructed without foreign expertise, instead they were designed by Ricciardo Camara using the preivous Atlantico as a basis. The ships weighed just over 10,000 tons with a top speed of 19 knots. Armament consisted of 4 305mm/35 guns with a secondary battery of 152mm, 76mm and 37mm guns. Bento Gonçalves was completed in 1900 at Camara Estalrio whilst Ântonio de Sousa Neto was completed in 1901 at SdCN Rio Grande. Bento Gonçalves would have the distinction of representing the Republic at Edward VII's coronation review in 1901. Both ships would join the 3 old ironclads in blockading Uruguayan waters during the 1907 war. In WW1 they had very active careers;
- Bento Gonçalves - She was deployed to the Gallipoli campaign upon entry into the war. on 25 May 1915 it was hit by a torpedo from U-21, which caused serious flooding and 1 year of repairs in Alexandria. After coming back Bento Gonçalves has been assigned to the Otranto Barrage and convoy escort in the medditerenean up until the present.
- Ântonio de Sousa Neto - Attached to Nore command in early 1916. Has had a relatively quiet career with the only excitement being taking pothsots at zeppelins aswell as avoiding torpedoes during a german submarine attack.
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Ships in Class
-Bento Gonçalves (1900) Extant 1917 Named fater wartime general and the 1st president.
-Ântonio de Sousa Neto (1901) Extant 1917 - Named after the wartime general and second president.

Battlecruisers

- República-Class Battlecruiser
The Navy observed with concern as the ABC powers put out and completed orders for dreadnought battleships. It was certain that if a war broke out the even the most modern battleships, The Bento Goncalves class, were incapabale of beating such huge ships. As such in 1911 the Navy introduced 'Plano de Expansão da Frota 2' and started a design competition to build 2 new battleships. However, it was soon realised that funds to build 2 ships were impossible to gather due to a large amount of funds being deciated to the Glorioso cruisers, even 1 ship would take up too much budget so the Navy turned once again to the donations of citizens. It was decided thatr if the numebrs of dreadnoughts oculd not be matched, then the one ship that would be built must be capable of winning a one-on-one, and capable of running away if there were too many opponents. The design chosen was made by John Brown & Co. of Clydebank, having just built a ne 280m slipway, meaning a large and powerful ship was on the cards. Eventual cost was split 40% naval budget, 50% public donations and 10% bank loans. To symoblize the patriotism of the citizens, the new ship would be named República. The design was forcasted to be the most powerful battlecruiser to be built, weighing 36,000 tons and capable of 31 knots. Armament was 4 twin 356mm turrets with secondary battery of 10 152mm guns. A novel feature was the AA battery - 4 18pdr guns and 8 40mm pom-poms. República was laid down in January 1912, being launched in April 1914. Just after the launching she was 'acquired' by the Royal Navy and given the name Jamaica. This caused great anger maongst the populous, who had paid the most for the ship. It caused mass unrest due to such a large maount of funds being 'stolen'. When the republic joined the war the uncomplete Jamaica was given back to the Navy and restored to her old name -República. Construction was completed in January 1916, the ships working up cruise was to Porto Alegre, to show the citizens what their generosity had produced, when República docked in Porto Alegre, a crowd of 230,000 truned out see her. She returned in time for the Battle of Jutland, during which she was attached behind HMS Tiger in the battleline. The ship shot well, on par with HMS Queen Mary (minus the exploding) She recieved 12 283mm and 8 305mm hits, but her heavy 283mm armoured belt meant this hits could be shrugged off. As of the present she is still attached to the Grand Fleet.
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Ships in Class
- República (1916) Extant 1917 - Named after the Republic
- Unidade (NC) - Named meaning Unity

Cruisers

- João Manuel de Lima e Silva-Class Protected Cruiser
Often reffered to as the Silva Class for simplicitys sake, this class was the Navy's first attempt at a modern protected cruiser. The yards in the Republic had little experience in building these ships. Luckily the owner of the newly founded Bath Iron Works in the USA; Thomas Hyde, was keen to show the abilities of his new shipyard. The design would be based on the American Atlanta class, albeit using British guns that the navy was familiar with. The design called for a ship of 3,100 tonnes with a top speed of 19 knots, rather quick for the time. Armament would 2 large 234m/31 guns along 4 76mm and 10 37mm guns. This choice would draw criticism as the ship would be almost defenseless if even one of its heavy guns were knocked out. Another important design chouice was that darught was only 4m, meaning the ships oculd operate in the shallow Lago Mirim. The two sisters, João Manuel de Lima e Silva and General Canabarro would be built alongside eachother, completing in 1888. Both ships would serve as commerce raiders during the 1897 war with Brazil, sinking or capturing a combined 9 Brazillian merchants. Silva would not be so lucky during the 1907 war with Uruguay; whilst bombarding shore positions with her sister in the Lago Mirim, the ship would hit a recently laid mine, due to the ships small size it sank in an hour, all of the crew survived and were rescued by General Canabarro. The wreck would be raised after the war and the hulk would become a accomodation hulk. When General Canabarro was paid into reserve in 1912, it took over this duty and the Silva was scrapped. as just mentioned, the Canabarro was relegeated to an accomodation ship. It was still arround for WW1, it was recommisioned and given a moderate rebuild, involving the enlargement of the superstructure, replacing masts, engine refurbishment aswell as plating over the 37mm ugns and replacing thw 234mm with 2 QF 152mm. This work was completed in late 1915 and the ship was assigned to operate in coastal waters, a role it still serves as of the present
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Silva, as completed 1888
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Canabarro, as it appears in 1917
Ships in class
-João Manuel de Lima e Silva (1888) Sunk 1907, Scrapped 1912 - Named after a Ragamuffin War general
-General Canabarro (1888) Extant 1917 - Named after a Ragamuffin general and brief leader of the Juliana Republic

- Ântonio de Sousa Neto-Class Protected Cruiser
After the completion of the Garibaldi ironclads, the navy found itself in an odd state; they had a lfeet of modern battleships but the most up to date cruisers they had was the aging Silva class. To rectify this problem, the Navy went to Vickers to create a design for compact protected cruiser. Since the ship's mission was to support the battleline in fleet engagements, speed was not a top priority, meaning when the design was finalised, the ship would weigh 3,300 tons with a top speed of 20 knots, the mission of objective of the ships was very obvious due to the heavy 102mm protected deck. Armament would be 3 152mm/40 guns along with 4 76mm guns. The first ship, Ântonio de Sousa Neto would be built at Vickers whilst the 2 sister ships; Farrapos and Porto Alegre would be built at SdCN Rio Grande. Only the first 2 ships would see service in the 1897 war with Brazil, both participating at the Battle of Sao Goncalo Channel, were Farrapos heavily damage the Benjamin Constant, however in return Ântonio de Sousa Neto would catch a full broadside from the battleship Riachuelo, suffering a huge magazine detonation and being lost with all but 9 of its crew. Porto Alegre would be heavily delayed due to materials and guns being used for more immediate operations, however it would be completed by late 1898. Both ships would join the blockade in the War with Uruguay in 1907, Porto Alegre struck a reef during these operations although damage was insignificant. This was however forshadowing as in 1910 Porto Alegre wrecked at the Ilha dos Lobos (which had claimed the the torpedo boat Jacui 10 years earlier). Recovery was deemed impossible and after guns and expensive equipment was removed, the ship was sold to the Rodriguez Brothers Co. and broken on site, which was completed by 1911. The survivng sister, Farrapos, survived to see WW1. In 1916 it took up a training role as it was far too slow to operate with any fleet in Europe. It still serves this duty as of the present.
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Ships in Class
-Ântonio de Sousa Neto (1895) Sunk 1897 - Named after the wartime general and second president.
-Farrapos (1896) Extant 1917 - Named after the Ragamuffins, Farrapos is their national name.
-Porto Alegre (1898) Wrecked 1910 - Named for the capital, Porto Alegre.

- Patriota-Class Armoured Cruiser
The only class of armoured cruiser the Navy ever built, mostly as a response to the Garibaldis from Argentina and Esmerelda and O'Higgins of Chile. As the Navy had no experience in building armoured cruisers, they approaches Vickers to make a design. It called for a displacement of 9,200 tonnes and a top speed of 22.5 knots. Armament was 2 twin 234mm/47 guns aswell as 152mm, 76mm and 37mm guns. Both ships, Patriota and Estoica, would be built by vickers. During the 1907 war with Uruguay, the two ships would take on roles as high speed cargo transports to get vital war material from Britain to the Republic. Estoica is notable as having represented the Republic at George VI's coronation review in 1910. During WW1, the ships would be attached to the Grand Fleet, participating in the battle of Jutland, however they only got to fire a few salvoes as they were right at the back of the battleline, although Estoica did score a single 234mm hit on the SMS Markgraf. In August 1917 Patriota struck a british mine laid 2 days before, although it didnt sink the ship needs heavy repairs. As of the present it is still in repair for atleast 6 more months. Comparatively, Estoica is still attached to the grand fleet.
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Ships in class
- Patriota (1903) Extant 1917 - Named for Patriotism
- Estoica (1904) Extant 1917 - Named for Stoicism

- Independência-Class Light Armoured Cruiser
After the loss of the cruiser Porto Alegre in 1910, the navy needed a new modern cruiser to replace it. Existing cruisers were either to few in number (Patriota, Estoice and Farrapos) or hopelessly obsolete (General Canabarro). As such a design competition was started in March 1910, with bids from yards in Britain, USA, France and Germany recieved. Native yards at SdCN Rio Grande were already scheduled to build two Gloriosa cruisers, so they could not be used. Eventually, AG Weser of Bremen was awarded the contract to build the ship in July 1910. The design they produced was for a ship of 5,400 tons with a top speed of 30 knots. Armament would be 8 150mm SK L/45 guns and 4 88mm guns. Initially, concern about the choice of builder was prevalent; AG Weser had never built a warship before, mainly being a constructor of ocean liners and merchant ships. However these concerns were brushed aside as the Independência's, as it was christened, construction continued. The ship was completed on time and was of very high quality craftmanship. Due to AG Weser's familiarity in building lavish ocean liners, Independência would have outstanding crew quarters well above the majority of ships of the same time. This made it arguablly the most popular ship to serve on within the Navy. She was completed in November of 1913, were she then sailed to Porto Alegre for her shakedown cruise. The rest of her pre-war career would see various port visits to show the flag. These port visits saw her docked in Wilhelmshaven, Germany when WW1 broke out in June 1914. She was quickly ordered to load Riograndense citizens now trapped in Europe, she then steamed to St Petersberg, then Calais to pickup more civillians. Due to her spacious quarters, there was no trouble fitting everyone in. She arrived in Porto Alegre in early July and offloaded the people. When the Republic joined WW1, she was sent to reinforce the Otranto Barrage in the Mediterenean. Her first major action was at the Battle of Durazzo on 28 December 1915. Here she exchanged fire with the cruiser Helgoland, damaging it it moderately. The next action would be the Battle off Cattaro on 16 February 1916. Here she, in company with Aguia and Condor would intercept 4 Austrian destroyers attempting to raid coastal drifters and bargers. In the subsequent action she sank the destroyer Csepel and drove the other 3 back. Her last major action as of date is the Battle of Otranto Straits in 15 May 1917. Here she sank her old foe the cruiser Helgoland, however she would be critically damaged in return, taking 8 102mm and 3 240mm shells, aswell as a single torpedo amidships. The ship was only saved from sinking by quick assitance from the torpedo boat Augia in pumping out water. The pumps lasted long enough for the ship to be emergency drydocked in Taranto. Immediate repairs were carried out through to July, before she was sent to Britiain for a thorough refit. As of the present she is still undergoing thsi refit, and is expected to return to service by December 1917.
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Ships in class
- Independência (1913) Extant 1917 - Named for Independance

- Gloriosa-Class Light Armoured Cruiser
A major part of the Plano de Expansão da Frota was to build 3 modern cruisers to escort the new capital ships, it had been planned to build 3 small, somewhat quick protected cruisers, however after learning of the impending completion of the 2 Brazillian Bahia class, the navy reconsidered; the Bahias were fast and armed with numerous 120mm guns. This meant that the envisioned protected cruisers would be to slow to catch a Bahia, and was not able to of completely outgunning one if the fight stayed close. This meant that in 1909 funds allocated to a second capital ship were reallocated to build 3 expensive Light armoured cruisers. The contract was awarded to Vickers Armstrong of Barrow. Vickers based the design of the recently completed Boadicea class. The design would weigh 3,200 tonnes and be capable of 28 knots. Armament would be 4 152mm guns, accompanied by a 6 76mm guns. The Gloriosas, as they would be called, would also be the first Riograndense cruisers to carry torpedoes; 1 twin 457mm launcher was located on each side. The first ship, Gloriosa would be laid down in 1910 at Vickers whilst the other two, Poderosa and Vitoriosa would be built at SdCN Rio Grande. All the ships would be completed before the start of WW1 in 1914. and replaced the Farrapos and 2 Patriota class as the main cruiser force. Upon the Republic's entry into WW1, all 3 ships were requested for service with the Grand Fleet by the British Admiralty. Subsequently, all 3 sisters participated at the Battle of Dogger Bank. In 1916 all 3 sisters went in for a light rebuild, coming out with modified superstructure, aswell as the short ranged 76mm guns being swapped out for 4 12pdr DP guns and a 40mm pom-pom. At the Battle of Jutland, Gloriosa was heavily damaged by 2 305mm and 5 150mm hits whilst escorting the battlecruiser Republica, meaning it had to be towed back to port by Poderosa. Repairs were completed by August 1917 and all 3 ships are still attached to the Grand Fleet as of the present.
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Gloriosa as it was built in 1912
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Gloriosa as it appears in 1917
Ships in Class
Gloriosa (1913) Extant 1917 - Named meaning Glorious
Poderosa (1914) Extant 1917 - Named meaning Dangerous
Vitoriosa (1914) Extant 1917 - Name meaning Victorious

Destroyers and Torpedo Boats

- Rio-Class Torpedo Boats
With the Garibaldi battleships under construction, The Navy acknowledged the need for modern escort ships, specifically torpedo boats. The Rio class were the first proper torpedo boats to built for the navy. Due to the SdCN's unfamiliarity with building such craft, all the ships would be built by George and James Thomson of Clydebank. Originally 8 ships were planned, however heightening tensions with Brazil meant that the final 2 were reordered as fast transports. The design was for a torpedo boat of 290 tons and a top speed of 25 knots. Armament was 2 76mm guns a signle 457mm torpedo tube. All of the ships would be in service by late 1890. Their first major action would be the 1897 war with Brazil. Jacui and Gravati were not present at the Battle of Sao Goncalo Channel. In this engagement Sinos and Cai were sunk by the combined batteries of multiple ships during a torpedo attack. In 1899 Jacui wrecked of the Ilha dos Lobos, before floating free in the high tide then sinking due to deep gashes in the hull. the survivng 3 sisters would form the 2nd Destroyer Squadron during the 1907 war with Uruguay. The doctrine of this war was to have the torpedo boats to operate near the mouth and up the Uruguay river to root out any of the small Uruguayan gunboats that could pose a threat. During the war they sank the gunboat General Riveras as well as a dispatch vessel. However, in the closing month of the war Camaqua hit a mine in the river plate estuary and sank, all survivors were rescued by Gravatai. The remaining two ships were placed into reserve in 1912. After the republic's entry into the war in 1915 both ships were reactivated an assigned to escort merchants along the coast. To perform this action the torpedo tube and rear 76mm gun were removed and replaced with depth charges and 40mm pom-pom. As of 1917 they still perform this duty.
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Jacui as it appeared in 1889
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Gravataí as it appears in 1917
Ships in Class
- Jacuí (1889) Wrecked 1899 - Named for the Jacui River
- Sinos (1889) Sunk 1897 - Named for the Sinos River
- Caí (1889) Sunk 1897 - Named for the Cai River
- Gravataí (1890) Extant 1917 - Named for the Gravatai River
- Jaguarão (1890) Extant 1917 - Named for the Jaguarao River
- Camaquã (1890) Mined 1907 - Named for the Camaqua River
- Vacacaí (NC) Redesigned as a transport (See Vacacaí-Class)
- Taquari (NC)

- Augia-Class Torpedo Boats
After the commisioning of the Battleship Atlantico, the Navy recognised that the current fleet of Rio Class torpedo boats was not numerically sufficient to screen the fleet of 5 battleships, as such a new design was drawn up by Ricciardo Camara, he used the Rio Class as a base, expanding it to accomodate more systems in weapons, the design called for a ship of 500 tons with a 27.5 knot top speed. Armament consisted of 2 76mm and 3 37mm guns aswell as 2 single 457mm TTs. All of the ships would be built at Camara Estalario, Only Augia was in service when the 1897 war with Brazil broke out. To quickly build numbers materials for Condor were hastily reassigned to Falcao in order to quickly complete it. This would pay off as the two ships would be present for the Battle of Sao Goncalo Channel, where they succesfully protected the battleships against torpedo boats. After the war ended, Condor was only 24% complete, most of its materials were now installed on Falcao so the ship's design was modified; it would have 3 76mm guns replacing 2 of 37mm, aswell as more powerful engines for a top speed of 29 knots. It commisioned in 1899. All the ships would see action in the 1907 war with Uruguay. The doctrine of this war was to have the torpedo boats to operate near the mouth and up the Uruguay river to root out any of the small Uruguayan gunboats that could pose a threat. In this role the Battle of the Uruguay River would be fought, in which the 3 sisters would sink the Uruguayan gunboats Malvinas and General Suarez, in return Falcao would recieve 5 waterline hits that flooded her engine room, meaning it ha dto be towed to safety by Condor, however the line broke and the Falcao grounded on the east bank of the Uruguay river near Nueva Palmira, fire from land artillery meant a recovery could not be initiated, the crew was rescued by Augia and Condor before they were forced to leave Falcao behind. Falcao would be salvaged by the Uruguayans in 1909 and commisioned into the Uruguayan Navy as Montevideo, it still serves in 1917. Augia and Condor would both fight in WW1, mainly in the Otranto Barrage and convoy escorting in the medditerenean, in this role Augia sank the Subamrine U-17 on 7 January 1917. As of the present they are still serving in this theatre.
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Ships in Class
-Augia (1896) Extant 1917 - Named after the Eagle
-Falcao (1897) Wrecked 1907 - Named after the Falcon
-Condor (1899) Extant 1917 - Named after the Condor

- Machado-Class Destroyer
The Navy had not recieved any new destroyers or tropedo boats since the Aguia class of the late 1890s, by 1910 these ships were shwoing their age so as part of the Plano de Expansão da Frota 2, 6 destroyers were to be built. Traditionally, the majority of minor nations had their destroyers constructed at the expert yard of Yarrow and Thornycroft in Britain, however, the Bath Iron Works in the USA offered to build a ship similar to Royal Navy capabilities but at a much cheaper pricetag. The design was based of the then building Tucker Class and called for a ship of 1,200 tonnes with a top speed of 33 knots. Armament was 5 76mm guns and 2 twin 457mm TTs. The first 3 ships, Machado, Martelo and Foice would be built at BIW from 1913-1915, whilst an additional 3 would be laid down the following year, Florete and Dardo at SdCN Rio Grande and Espada at Camara Estalario. However following a fire the progress made on Dardo was largely destroyed, with the remains being cannibalized to quickly complete Florete. All of the ships except Machado would commision after the Republic's entry into WW1. It is interesting to note that Machado and Martelo had 2 of their 76mm guns replaced with 2 152mm/40 guns that had been taken off the old ironclad Juliana in a refit. Both armament setups were criticzed - the 152mm armed ships had good punch but if fired directly forward or aft they were prone to buckling the deck, whereas the unifrom 76mm ships lacked the neccesary stopping power that would have been afforded by a 102mm or 127mm weapon. All of the ships would eventually form the 1st Riograndense Squadron as part of the Grand Fleet, Machado and Martelo took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank and would be joined by the other 3 sisters for the Battle of Jutland, where they screened the Battlecruiser Republica. As of the present they are still serving in this role.
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Ships in Class
-Machado (1915) Extant 1917 - Named after an Axe
-Martelo (1915) Extant 1917 - Named after a Hammer
-Foice (1915) Extant 1917 - Named after a Scythe
-Florete (1916) Extant 1917 - Name after a Rapier
-Espada (1916) Extant 1917 - Named after a Sword
-Dardo (NC) - Named after a Javelin

Submarines

- Loba-Class Submarine
The interdiction of merchant ships by surface raiders in 1897 and 1907 wars proved to be rather useful in weakening enemy supplies aswell as moral, to further expand this capability the Navy decided to replicate European powers and order a small number of submarines. The Navy board was invited to tour a German, British and French submarine and found the German one to be of fair better design and use. As such the contract to builf 4 submarines was awarded to Blohm and Voss of Hamburg. The ships would be somewhat based of the unique U-16 which was currently being built. The first 3 ships. Loba, Raposa and Coiote would be built by Blomm and Voss, whilst the SdCN Rio Grande was allowed to build the 4th, Guara to build expertise in submarines and be trained by Blohm and Voss workers. The design was decent sized for the time and weighed 485 tons, 2 diesel engine allowed for a 15 knots surface speed whilst electric motors gave a 10 knot submerged speed. Arnament was 2 37mm guns and 3 457mm TTs, 2 forward and 1 aft (which could only be reloaded when surfaced). The gun armament would be criticized as it took to long to sink a ship on its own, in 1915 all the ships would have these guns removed and replaced with a single 76mm gun. The ships pre-war careers consisted of various training cruises and tests, during WW1 they would be deployed to the North Sea. During this deployment Loba sank the destroyer V-26 off Helgoland whilst Guara sank the obsolete cruiser Arcona west of the Skaggerak. As of 1917 they are all still present in this theatre.
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Ships in Class
-Loba (1912) Extant 1917 - Named for the Wolf
-Raposa (1912) Extant 1917 - Named for the Fox
-Coiote (1912) Extant 1917 - Named for the Coyote
-Guara (1913) Extant 1917 - Indigenous name for the Maned Wolf

Riverine Fleet

- Vacacaí-Class Gunboat
The two Vacacaí class ships were originally ordered as the last 2 members of the Rio Class torpedo boats, however heightening tensions with Brazil meant that the navy needed transports to ferry troops quickly round the interior, the previous fleet of side wheel steamers turned troop ships the navy had previously used were slow and poorly armed if they were intercepted by any Brazillian ships, as such an idea was put forward to convert two torpedo boat hulls into high speed transports. The design was 270 tons with a top speed of 22 knots, 1 of the 2 boilers having been removed to make more space for troops. Armament was 1 76mm and 5 37mm guns. The ships oculd also carry a complement of 120 troops. Both ships were commisioned in 1891, and were moslty assigned to patrol the Lago do Patos and Guaiba river. In the 1897 war with Brazil the ships ferried 5,200 troops combined around the various rivers, aswell as engaging various shore batteries, In the 1907 war with Urugay the ships were assigned to the Lago Mirim, Vacacaí was converted to a fast hospital ship whilst Taquari continued its role as a troop transport, notably is 37mm battery sank a small 30 ton torpedo boat that the Uruguayans had converted to torpedo one of the Silva Class cruisers. Both ships were decommisioned in 1908, Vacacaí was recommisioned in 1910 and converted for humanitarian causes as it was already set up as a hospital ship, Taquari was kept in its transport state. During WW1 both ships served as part time transport, transporting various training regiments of the army around the training grounds. They still serve this duty today, instrestingly in 1916 both ship's aft 37mm gun was replaced with a 18pdr AA gun, whilst the other 4 were removed for use in other operations.
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Ships in Class
-Vacacaí (1891) Extant 1917 - Named for the Vacacaí River
-Taquari (1891) Extant 1917 - Named for the Taquari River

- Carijó-Class Gunboat
The mass decommisioning of the old fleet of montiors and small gunboats that had originally patrolled the Republic's waterways in the early 1890s meant that a new class of gunboats were needed to fill this newly created hole. This led to various designs being produced an ordered, in a general plan that was called the 'New River Fleet'. The first design called for a medium sized gunboat that could patrol waterways aswell as conduct coastal missions if required. The design called for a ship of 710 tons with a top speed of 16 knots. Armamaent was 2 152mm/40 guns, 4 76mm and 6 37mm guns. 4 ships were ordered, being built at SdCN Porto Alegre (Carijó, Caingangue, Tramandaí) and SdCN Rio Grande (Santa Maria.) They would all be laid built between 1892 and 1896. The first loss would be Tramandaí, when on 15 November 1896, it fought the Battle off Isla Oyarvide, in the Plate estruary. Tramandaí had collected a shipment of 12 artillery guns and 1200 rounds of ammuntion in Buenos Aires, unknown to naval intelligence, the Brazillian torpedo cruisers Tamoio and Tupi and the montior Solimoes had been waiting just outside the mouth of the river to intercept the small ship. The action started for 1 hour, in which the heavily armed Solimoes was struggling to engage due to its slow speed. This meant that whilst the two torpedo cruisers overall had more guns, Tramandaí actually had the heavier weapons (152mm opposed to 102mm). The gunboat used this to devastating effect by landing repeated shots on Tamoio, causing that ship to disenage (later interned in Buenos Aires.) However by that time Solimoes had closed the range, and Tramandaí was quickly disabled by heavy gunfire. One shell hit caused the stored artillery ammunition to explode and the ship detonated in extraordinary fashion, with only 7 men surviving. The rest of the class would survive the war. in 1905 Carijó was moored at the Porto Alegre yards, undergoing maintenance when the great fire started. Carijó quickly caught alight, after it was extinguished the damage was so severe that the ship was deemed a total constructive loss, being scrapped shortly after with some components being reused on the large sloop bearing the same name. As such only Caingangue and Santa Maria would live to see WW1. due to their ability to operate in the open sea, they were assigned to escort convoys. In this tole Santa Maria would be lost on 15 December 1916, when escorting a convoy of 3 freighters she was escorting was set upon by the raider SMS Wolf. The wolf outgunned Santa Maria 4-1, however the ship delayed Wolf for over 40 minutes, inflicting moderate damage and allowing the freighters to escape behind the guns of the Sao Goncalo Channel. Santa Maria however was sunk by multiple shell hits, wuth msot of the crew being rescued by the the Cruiser Farrapos 6 hours later. Wolf escaped interception and fled to the Indian Ocean. As such, in the present Caingangue is the only surviving member of the class. Its current job is the same convoy escort it has performed since the start of the war.
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Ships in class
-Carijó (1894) Scrapped 1905 - Named after the Carijó tribe.
-Caingangue (1895) Extant 1917 - Named after the Caingangue tribe.
-Santa Maria (1895) Sunk 1916 - Named for the city of Santa Maria
-Tramandaí (1896) Sunk 1896 - Named after the town of Tramandaí.

- Pelotas-Class Gunboat
The Pelotas Class were orginally designed as ocean going gunboats that could escort convoys aswell as lay mines. 4 ships were originally planned, however the final two were destroyed by the destruction of 1905 that damaged the yard at Porto Alegre, as such only two ships would be completed. It was found that their shallow draught made them terrible seaboats, in return making them suited to riverine operations, the ships design called for a displacement of 690 tonnes, capable of 16 knots. Armament were 2 152mm/40 guns, 1 40mm pom-pom (this was asurface weapon and not an AA weapon) aswell as 4 37mm guns. They would also have a 40mm armour belt installed to ward off light artillery fire. Both ships would also have capacity to lay 20 mines each, aswell as space to accomodate up 240 marines. The first action came in 1907, were they were deployed to Lago Mirim to shell shore positions, Pelotas assisted the old cruiser Silva when that ship struck a mine, pulling many survivors out of the water. They continued patrolling the interior rivers until WW1 broke out, It was decided that the ships would escort coastal freighters to avoid the stability problems encountered when they operated in the open ocean. They still perform this duty as of 1917.
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Ships in class
-Pelotas (1905) Extant 1917 - Named after the city of Pelotas
-Canoas (1905) Extant 1917 - Named after the city of Canoas
-Uruguaiana (NC) - Named after the city of Urugainana
-Viamão (NC) - Named after the city of Viamão

Changelog
24/12/23 - Posted initial content.
28/12/23 - Added Antonio de Sousa Neto Cruisers and Pelotas Gunboats.
03/01/24 - Added shipyard details.
05/01/24 - Added 1917 pictures of the Gloriosa, Garibaldi and Rio class.
10/01/24 - Added Vacacai transports.
14/01/24 - Added Independencia cruisers.
15/01/24 - Added notable battles.
20/01/24 - Rewrote the history from my initial draft, deleted notable battles as i felt it was too out of place.
24/01/24 - Rewrote history for Silva class and added Canabarro 1917 appearance
17/01/24 - Added Carijo class gunboats

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