Brazilian battleship Sao Paulo

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The Brazilian battleship Sao Paulo (named after the City of Sao Paulo, Portuguese for St. Paul) was built between 1907-1909, and commissioned in July 1910. Built by Vickers in Barrow in Furness, England, it was an early dreadnought. It carried a main armament of twelve 12 inch main guns mounted two per turret, and could fire from all sides. The Sao Paulo was a member of the two-ship Minas Gerais class, which were powered by reciprocating engines with coal fired boilers. Both of these vessles were built in an attempt to enhance the Brazilian naval power in South America. Their completion sparked a mini South American naval race, however this quickly ended upon the outbreak of World War I. When Brazil declared war on Germany in 1917, the Sao Paulo was sent to the US for a major refit prior to joining the Grand Fleet in Great Britain. However, the refit was not completed until 1920, by which time World War I had ended, therefore the ship never fired its guns in anger. It was decommissioned in 1946, and its hull was sold to British breakers in 1951. While being towed across the Atlantic, a heavy gale 150 nautical miles from the Azores caused the tow ropes to snap, and the ship has never been sighted again. In 1954 her sister ship was successfully towed to Italy and scrapped.

[edit] General Characteristics

From Conway's Allthe World'sFighting Ships 1906-1921

• Displacement: 19,281 tons standard, 21,200 tons full load
• Length; 165.5 m
• Beam: 25.3 m
• Draught: 8.5 m
• Machinery: 2 shaft Virtical Triple expansion steam engines, 18 Babcock type boilers, 23,500 hp
• Speed: 21 knots
• Range: 10,000 nm at 10 knots
• Armament:
  • 12 - 12 inch (305 mm) guns in six twin turrets
  • 22 - 4.7 inch (120 mm) guns in casemates
  • 8 - 37 mm guns
• Armour: Krupp Armour
  • Belt - 9 inch
  • Deck - 2 1/4 inch
  • Casemates - 9 inch
  • Turrets - 12 inch max
  • Conning tower - 12 inch
• Crew: 900