The Pará class destroyers were a class of 10 destroyers built for the Brazilian Navy

Brazilian Navy

The Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America...

 between 1908 and 1910 by Yarrow

Yarrow Shipbuilders

Yarrow Limited , often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde...

 in the Scotstoun

Scotstoun

Scotstoun is a historic district of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Yoker and Knightswood to the west, Victoria Park, Broomhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Clyde to the south...

 district of Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. All named after states of Brazil, the class closely resembled the River class destroyer

River class destroyer

The River-class destroyer was a heterogeneous class of torpedo boat destroyer built to assorted builders' designs for the Royal Navy at the turn of the 20th century, which saw extensive service in World War I...

s. All ten ships were ordered under the 1907 Naval Programme and exceeded the design speed during sea trials, the best being Parana, which reached a top speed of 28.76 knots. The class proved very maneuverable with a turning circle of 375 yards at full speed. The class served in both World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Design

The Pará class was designed for a crew of 104 men, powered by double shaft four cylinder VTE engines with two coal-fired Yarrow boilers which produced 8,000 shp. With a capacity of 140 tons of coal their range was 3,700nm at 14 kts. They were armed with two 4 in (101.6 mm) guns, four 3-pounder guns, and two 18 in (457.2 mm) torpedo tubes.

All units exceeded their 27 kn (52.9 km/h; 32.9 mph) design speed; the best trial speed was Parana, at 28.736 kn (56.3 km/h; 35 mph). The ships were divided into ten watertight compartments by bulkhead

Bulkhead (partition)

A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.-Etymology:...

s from the outer bottom plating to the upper deck. The class proved to be very maneuverable; the diameter of the turning circle was 375 yd (342.9 m; 1,125 ft) at full speed and 340 yd (310.9 m; 1,020 ft) at two-thirds speed.

Ships

Ten ships were ordered under the 1907 Naval Program intended to modernize the navy; all built by Yarrow.

• Pará — launched 14 July 1908, stricken 1933.
• Piaui — launched 7 December 1908, stricken 1944.
• Amazonas — launched 21 November 1908, stricken 1931.
• Mato Grosso — launched 23 January 1909, stricken 1946.
• Rio Grande do Norte — launched 1909, stricken 1944.
• Paraiba — launched 18 May 1909, stricken 1944.
• Alagoas — launched 29 July 1909, disarmed 1939.
• Santa Catharina — launched 26 October 1909, stricken 1944.
• Parana — launched 27 March 1910, disarmed 1933.
• Para — launched 25 May 1910, stricken 1944.