Pará-class destroyer (1908)

The Pará class destroyers were a class of 10 destroyers built for the Brazilian Navy between 1908 and 1910 by Yarrow in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow, Scotland. All named after states of Brazil, the class closely resembled the River class destroyers. 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 and World War II.

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 3,700 nm at 14 kts. They were armed with two 4 in guns, four 3-pounder guns, and two 18 in torpedo tubes.

All units exceeded their 27 kn design speed; the best trial speed was Parana, at 28.736 kn. The ships were divided into ten watertight compartments by bulkheads 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 at full speed and 340 yd at two-thirds speed.

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


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