The ''Deodoro'' class were two French-designed and -built
coastal defense battleships built for the
Brazilian Navy
The Brazilian Navy () is the navy, naval service branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces, responsible for conducting naval warfare, naval operations.
The navy was involved in War of Independence of Brazil#Naval action, Brazil's war of independence ...
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. They served the Brazilian Navy as its only modern armored warships until the arrival of two
dreadnought
The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an effect when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", ...
s in 1910.
[Lyon, p. 407]
About
The ships had a low freeboard and long superstructures with single-gun main turrets arranged at each end. Their
secondary batteries
A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or prima ...
were also mounted at each end of the superstructure, albeit in
casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...
s in each corner. All used British
Armstrong guns.
In 1912, both ships were overhauled with new propulsion and armament.
In 1924, Brazil sold ''Marshal Deodoro'' to the
Mexican Navy
The Mexican Navy () is one of the components of the Mexican Armed Forces. The Secretariat of the Navy is in charge of administration of the navy. The commander of the navy is the Secretary of the Navy, who is both a cabinet minister and a career ...
.
She served for another 14 years, primarily as a training vessel.
''Deodoro''-class coast-defense ships
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''Deodoro'' (sold to Mexico and commissioned as the ''Anáhuac'')
*
''Floriano'' (scrapped)
References
Bibliography
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External links
{{Marshal Deodoro coastal-defense ships
Coastal defense ship classes
Marshal Deodoro-class coastal defense ship