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Barroso (1866)

History

From 1864 to 1870, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay (the "Triple League") fought with neighboring Paraguay, forming the "Paraguay War". Such conflicts required modern means of warfare, which prompted Brazil to commission a new type of shallow-draft armoured iron armor named after Admiral Francisco Manor Barroso de Silva (1804-1882).

Construction of the Barroso began on February 21, 1865, managed by the Marinjada Corte Arsenal in Rio de Janeiro, and was launched on November 4, 1865. She was finally completed on January 11, 1866, and entered service with the Brazilian Navy the same yearimmediately.

The Barroso had a wooden hull with an armored central turret - the superstructure was mounted behind the midship's funnel. There are two masts (schooner rigging sail scheme), one forward and the other towards the stern, on which the sails can be used for extended open sea sailing. However, the main propulsion was 1 x John Penn & Sons 2 cylinder steam engine to 1 x shaft (total output 420hp) via 2 x boilers. She measured a hull length of 201 feet 7 inches, a beam of 36 feet and a draft of 9 feet. The normal displacement is 1300 tons and the boat speed can reach 9 knots.

She was piloted by a crew of 149 and equipped with 1 x 120 pdr Whitworth rifled barrel, 2 x 70 pdr Whitworth rifled barrel, 2 x 68 pdr smoothbore guns and 2 x 12 pdr smoothbore guns. Armor protection includes a 4" thick belt, a 4" thick turret, and a 0.5" thick deck cover.

From 1866 to 1867, the Barroso was used for fortifications against the Paraguay River, deploying powerful artillery. She was of course hit by a Paraguayan weapon, but her body was not seriously injured - a testament to the sturdy design.

Barroso was eventually used along with other Allied ships to bomb Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. On July 9, Paraguayan soldiers traveled in canoes to two ships in an attempt to capture the Barroso and the rock-solid Rio de Janeiro. The ships were boarded and many of Rio's crew were killed in the fighting. Barroso successfully avoided their boarders and helped Rio de Janeiro by knocking out the Paraguayans with a deadly grape shot.

The war with Paraguay in 1870 ended with the victory of the Allies and the total destruction of Paraguay, resulting in the death of most of its male population.

After the war, the Barroso was assigned to the Mato Grosso fleet and served in this manner until her decommissioning in 1882. Amazingly, despite being a pensioner, the ship was not broken up and scrapped until 1937 - just before World War II.