The ''Marcílio Dias''-class destroyers (sometimes referred to as M class) were three destroyers of the

Brazilian Navy ) , colors= Blue and white , colors_label= Colors , march= "Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship ''Cisne Branco'' , mascot= , equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibious war ...

that served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. They were based on the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

's . They entered service in 1943 and served on Atlantic

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

duty with the Allies. In July 1944, the three destroyers escorted the Brazilian Expeditionary Force to Italy. Following the end of the war, the destroyers remained in service, undergoing modernisation. Two were discarded in 1966, with the last taken out of service in 1973.

Design and description

The ''Marcílio Dias'' class was based on the United States' , built within Brazil. They had a

standard displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

of and were at full load. They were

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

with a beam of and a mean draught of . The destroyers were powered by four

Babcock & Wilcox Babcock & Wilcox is an American renewable, environmental and thermal energy technologies and service provider that is active and has operations in many international markets across the globe with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, USA. Historicall ...

Express boilers supplying steam to General Electric Company

geared turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

s that drove two

shafts ''Shafts'' was an English feminist magazine produced by Margaret Sibthorp from 1892 until 1899. Initially published weekly and priced at one penny, its themes included votes for women, women's education, and radical attitudes towards vivisection, ...

. The engines were rated at and the vessels had a maximum speed of . The ''Marcílio Dias'' class had capacity for of fuel oil and had a range of at . The destroyers had a complement of 190 officers and ratings. The planned armament of the class was to be five /38 calibre guns mounted in single turrets. This was augmented with four 40 mm guns and four 20 mm guns for anti-aircraft defence. They were also to be equipped with two quadruple

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

mounts. However, while under construction, one of the 5-inch guns and one of the quad mounts of torpedo tubes were removed and the number of 20 mm guns was increased to eight. Only the forward 5-inch gun was given a gun shield. For

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

, the destroyers were given two depth charge racks, four depth charge throwers and equipped with

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

. In 1966 a

Sea Cat missile Seacat was a British short-range surface-to-air missile system intended to replace the ubiquitous Bofors 40 mm gun aboard warships of all sizes. It was the world's first operational shipboard point-defence missile system, and was designed so tha ...

system was fitted to ''Mariz e Barros'', with the destroyer used as a test platform. The system was later removed and installed on the .

Ships of the class

Service history

The ''Marcílio Dias'' were the first

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...

s constructed in Brazil of any size, and due to this fact, took a long time to build. After commissioning, all three vessels were assigned to Naval Forces North-East patrolling the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. Each patrol lasted roughly fourteen days and were used primarily to intercept

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

blockade runners. The patrols sometimes worked in concert with United States Navy forces. The destroyers also saw

escort duty between Rio de Janeiro,

Recife That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15) , image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco , pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...

and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

and in July 1944, escorted the five convoys that carried the Brazilian Expeditionary Force to Italy.

Citations

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcilio Dias-class destroyer Destroyer classes World War II destroyers of Brazil