Brazilian cruiser Almirante Tamandaré (1890)

The Almirante Tamandaré was a protected cruiser of the Brazilian Navy. The Brazilian cruiser with its armament of 6in guns resembled the British Leander-class (completed 1885-1887) which were among the first protected cruisers. The Almirante Tamandaré was therefore also similar to the United States navy protected cruisers Newark, San Francisco, and Philadelphia or the German Irene class from the late 1880s-early 1890s which shared the basic concept of the Leander type. Unlike most major warships in South American navies, the Almirante Tamandaré was not ordered from a foreign shipyard but was built at Rio de Janeiro. It was the third largest ship in the Brazilian navy at the time (after the battleships Riachuelo and Aquidabã).

The completion of the Almirante Tamandare coincided with the Revolta da Armada (revolt of the Navy) which was a 1893-1894 mutiny of most of Brazil's navy related to the country's political disputes. The revolt was unsuccessful, as the naval officers did not have effective support from their allies on land and the government was able to purchase various small or improvised naval vessels overseas to retake control of the coastline.