armoured ship Thursday

this thursday we have the Brazilian battleship Riachuelo. Riachuelo was built by Samuda Brothers of London for the Brazilian Navy. she was commissioned into that service 11/19/1883. the ship was 306'2" in length and displaced 5029t. her engines developed 4500hp and could propel her to a top speed of 16kts. Riachuelo had a steel hull and was the first ship to be armoured with compound armour. this type of armour which superseded wrought iron consisted of a wrought iron backing onto which was welded a steel face which hopefully would explode the shell or break up the shot before it could penetrate the armour fully. Riachuelo's armour belt was from 7"-11" in thickness. her main battery was four 9.2" naval rifles in two turrets placed en echelon one on the port side and the other starboard. secondary armament was six 5.5" naval rifles plus eleven 25mm rifles. Riachuelo had a fairly easy life as she was never in a war and the Naval mutiny of 1891 found her in drydock so she missed that as well. from 1885 until the mid or late 90's of the 19th century Riachuelo and her sister Aquidaban made the Brazilian Navy the most powerful navy in this hemisphere. the USN only caught up and passed Brazil about 1895 when the US started to build fully armoured ships. in 1889 the Imperial Family of Brazil were returned to Portugal aboard Riachuelo as Brazil was now a Republic and no longer an Empire. Riachuelo was modernized in Toulon, France in 1893 and at this time her masts and rigging were removed and she was given a simple military mast in their place. her last mission was in 1907 when she took the Brazilian Naval Commissioners to Europe to pick up the new Battleships Brazil had contracted for. she was removed from service and sold for scrap in 1910. while in tow to Europe for scrapping the old ship fooled her scrappers and sank at sea. first picture is a neat coloured one on a collectible chocolate card from France. next is a picture of her with all her masts and rigging as built and used from 1883-1893. the last two pictures are of Riachuelo after her 1893 modernization with rigging removed and only a military mast.