Brazilian battleship São Paulo

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São Paulo was a Brazilian dreadnought battleship, the second ship of the Minas Geraes class. Built by the British company Vickers in Barrow-in-Furness, it was laid down in 1907, launched in 1909, and commissioned in 1910. It displaced about 19,000 tons, was roughly 500 feet long, and could reach around 21.5 knots.

Early drama in the Brazilian Navy came soon after it entered service. In November 1910, crews on four ships, including São Paulo, mutinied in the Revolt of the Lash to protest pay and harsh punishments. After a tense stand, an amnesty was passed and the mutiny ended, but the navy’s discipline and capabilities were a matter of national concern.

When World War I began Brazil initially stayed neutral. After German U-boats sank Brazilian merchant ships, Brazil entered the war in 1917 and offered to send its battleships to Britain, which declined because the ships were aging. São Paulo was sent to the United States for a full refit from June 1918 to January 1920. The overhaul added modern fire-control equipment, rangefinders, and some anti-air and defensive systems, and reduced some secondary guns.

In 1922 São Paulo fired its main guns in anger for the first time when it helped suppress the Copacabana Fort revolt. Two years later, mutineers again seized the ship, sailing it to Montevideo, Uruguay, before it was brought back under control. By the 1930s the ship was in poor condition and too slow to be modernized effectively, so it served mainly as a coastal defense ship and training vessel rather than as a frontline battleship.

During World War II, Brazil entered the war in 1942 and São Paulo served as the main defense of the port of Recife. It remained in Rio de Janeiro after the war and was formally stricken in 1947. The ship stayed as a training ship until 1951, when it was sold for breaking up in Britain.

The final voyage to the scrappers began in September 1951. A heavy storm split the tow lines near the Azores, and São Paulo was lost at sea in early November 1951. A later report concluded the ship probably sank around November 4, 1951, after the tow cables parted and the vessel foundered.