Name Cabral In service 1866–85 | Preceded by Mariz e Barros class Built 1864–66 | |
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The Cabral-class ironclads were a pair of iron-hulled, armored corvettes originally ordered by Paraguay in 1864, but were sold to Brazil when Paraguay defaulted on the payments. Configured as central-battery ironclads, they served during the 1864–70 War of the Triple Alliance between Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay against Paraguay.
Design and description
The ships were 160 feet (48.8 m) long, had a beam of 35 feet 6 inches (10.8 m) and drafts of 11.75–12.1 feet (3.6–3.7 m). They displaced 1,033 long tons (1,050 t). The Cabral class had a pair of steam engines, each driving one propeller. The engines produced a total of 750 indicated horsepower (560 kW) and gave the ships a maximum speed of 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph). Their crew consisted of 125 officers and enlisted men.
Cabral was armed with two 70-pounder Whitworth rifled muzzle-loading guns and two smoothbore 68-pounder guns, while Colombo had four 120-pounder Whitworth guns. The ships had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that ranged in thickness from 114 millimeters (4.5 in) amidships to 76 millimeters (3.0 in) at the ends of the ship.