Sete de Setembro (1874)

Sete de Setembro was a casemate ironclad operated by the Brazilian (Imperial) Navy, which development was the result of one of the largest periods of naval construction in Brazil. She was designed to fight in the Paraguayan War but only completed in 1874, too late for operations. The delay in construction was caused by some indecision about the cannon types that should be installed. Given the limitation of the Rio de Janeiro yard, she was of mixed construction.

When completed, she was included in the “Esquadra de Evolucions”, the main fleet division composed of the best warships on hand. Its aim was to perfect naval tactics and advanced training. Individually, Sete de Setembro however proved difficult to maneuver. During the Armada Revolt she was towed in place and used as a floating battery by the rebels. Later abandoned due to her poor general state due to a lack of proper maintennace she was eventually set on fire and sunk by loyalist troops. In 1897, she was refloated in Guanabara Bay and BU not not impede navigation.

Design of the class

Sete de Setembro was built at the Rio de Janeiro Navy Yard from a design of Lieutenant Commander/naval engineer Napoleão Level. She was an improved version of the masted cruiser Almirante Barroso as part of the 1867 Imperial Naval Program. But she was later classified as an armored frigate according to Gratz, or a “battleship” (ironclad would be more accurate, given the generic term is “couraçado”, close to the French “cuirassé”) according to Brazilian sources. But given her origin, “armoyred cruiser” would be more accurate. After all, this was a well accepted concept at the time. When completed, she was named “Sete de Setembro” (7 September in honor of Brazil’s Independence Day), third ship of the name in the Imperial Navy.

Hull and general design

She was of mixed construction, made of wood and iron, with a composite wooden hull structured by iron beams, and external armour plating in wrought iron. She was over 73.4 meters long, 14.2 meters wide, 3.81 meters or 240 ft 10 in in overall lenght, for a beam of 46 ft 7 in and a draft of 12.5 ft (mean) for a displacement of 2,174 tons, underrstood as standard.

Before construction began, her previously open decks were covered fore and aft to improve seaworthiness and protect the fore and aft capstans. The underside hull was coated with Muntz metal to reduce biofouling. She had an 8-foot-long (2,40 m) bronze ram as well. For overseas deployments, her freeboard could be further increased to 3.2 meters with the use of 1.1 meter (3 ft 6 in) high removable bulwarks. Her lengh-beam ratio was in-between true ironclads and cruisers, and her main casemate was located amidships, with all four main guns only firing on the broadside. Her bridge was located above this bulkhead, accesses via stairs and access to the lower decks was through a serie of wooden glassed hatches as customary of the time. The single funnel was located aft of the casemate, followed by the main mast. She had a barque rigging originally, later simplified as a schooner rigging. Her crew numbered 185 officers and men and her main boats were located over the casemate.

Powerplant

Sete de Setembro had two 2-cylinder John Penn & Sons steam engines. They drove a single 12-foot propeller through a common crankshaft. These steam engines (exact type unknpwn) were fed in turn by four rectangular boilers producing a total of 2000 indicated horsepower or 1,500 kW. This enabled a top speed of 12 knots (22 km/h). The single funnel was aft of the casemate. The rigging was barque, later simplified to schooner, albeit on photos it is entirely gone and only the base of the masts were retained.

Protection

Sete de Setembro had wrought iron for the armored belt.
-It was all along the waterline over 3.04 meters in hight, with a maximum thickness of 114 millimeters.
-The deck and casemate roof were protected by 12.7 mm (0.5 inches) of wrought iron.
-The casemate had armor identical to that of the hull at 114 mm (4.48 in).
-Both the belt and casemate had a wooden backing in teak, 593 millimeters (23.3 inches) thick for a total of 27.8 inches combined.
Armor 114 mm (4.5 in) armour belt
114 mm (4.5 in) casemate
Decks 12.7 mm (0.5 in)

Armament

Armament options for the ship were discussed, and the two choices debated:
-First the the installation of six muzzle-loading 150-pounder Whitworth guns in the central casemate plus other rotating lighter guns on the decks to fire forward or back.
-The other option was two gun turrets, each turret housing a pair of 300-pound Whitworth guns.
Initially, it was decided to install instead a simpler casemate, but with four 300-pounder Whitworth cannons, on pivot brackets at the corners.
A new controversy arose over the choice of Whitworth guns, as the Navy preferred Armstrong guns.
The debate went on for several years, delaying completion of the ship, until Withworth cannons were chosen. The nine-inch (229 mm) Whitworth gun solid shots weighed approximately 300 pounds (136.1 kg) each, and the gun themselves weighed 18 tons.

Withworth 9 inches (229 mm) RMLs

These muzzle-loading rifled guns were used in substantial numbers by the Dutch, Spanish and other navies, but not by the RN. This was basically an export model.
First introduced in service in 1867, its barrel base mass was 12,300 kgs, 18 tonnes with the full mount. The barrel measured 3.962 m and its muzzle velocity was 1,476 feet per second (450 m/s).

2-pdr gun

There are some contradictory sources on the secondary armament. It seems however this ship was given five metralhadoras (machine guns) which are likely 37 mm (2 pounder) Nordenfelt or Hotchkiss autocannons. Four are located on top of the casemate and on the forward deck.

Career of Sete de Setembro

In approximately 150 years of Brazilian history, between the 19th and 20th centuries, the country had a few, steep shipbuilding plans. This started with the first, at the time of the Paraguayan War when the empire was concerned by the adequacy of its fleet to do some true difference in the conflict.It was during this tile in 1866, that the construction of the Sete de Setembro was authorized.
The keel was laid on January 8, 1868, in the midst of the Paraguayan War in presence of Emperor D. Pedro II and the Duke of Saxony. But she was only launched on May 16, 1874. She then underwent an exhibition and was incorporated into the Brazilian Imperial Navy on July 4, 1874.
Construction accumulated more mishaps than successes, mostly due to Navy’s own indecision. The final ship was designed as a frigate and never intended to reach that final displacement. As a result she was extremely difficult to maneuver.

On August 12, 1876 already she was placed in reserve. On June 22, 1877 she returned to active duty and by the early 1880s, Sete de Setembro remained stationed in Montevideo until returning to Rio de Janeiro in 1884. On August 19 under notice No. 1541-A, the “Esquadra de Evoluciones” was created. This was a modern nucleus of steam vessels with modern artillery and torpedoes under command of squadron commander Artur Silveira de Motta.

Sete de Setembro thus became one of the sixteen ships of this squadron, which also comprised Riachuelo, Solimões and Javary, hybrid cruisers Guanabara and Almirante Barroso, ocean-going corvettes Trajano, Barroso and Primeiro de Março as well as the 1st Class (50 t) torpedo boats 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and the 4th Class (50 t) torpedo boats Alfa, Beta and Gama. Sete de Setembro however was ultimately reclassified in 1879 as a floating battery due to her limited protection and poor agility and speed. The objective of this division was to perfect battle tactics and advanced training as well as projecting Brazilian naval power, something well undestood by Argentina, Chile and the USA. Indeed, the Brazilian Imperial Navy was classed as the world’s fifth largest at the time.

On November 27, 1885, Sete de Setembro was incorporated into the Battleship Division and the following day, was numbered “3”. After a few yearly commissions, she returned in reserve for overhaul. She was still in reserve until 1893, when the Armada Revolt started. At the time, she was captured by the rebels and was used as an ammunition transport assigned to the arsenal at Ponta da Armação. However, due to her generally poor state adn performances, the rebels abandoned her as operations progressed. She was stranded between Niterói and Ponta da Armação and on December 16, 1893, loyal forces to Floriano Peixoto managed to recapture her. Still, she was evaluated not worth operations, and she was looted and set on fire near Rio de Janeiro, causing her to sink eventually in shallow waters. Four years later she was estimated a hazard to navigation, refloated from the bottom of Guanabara Bay and towed to demolition.

Read More/Src

Books

Gratz, George A. (1999). The Brazilian Imperial Navy Ironclads, 1865-1874. Conway Maritime Press.
Koleśnik, Eugène M; Chesneau, Roger; Campbell, N. J. M. (1979). Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships, 1860-1905
Marinha do Brasil. «Sete de Setembro Encouraçado» (PDF). Diretoria do Patrimônio Histórico e Documentação da Marinha
Martini, Fernando Ribas de (2014). «Construir navios é preciso, persistir não é preciso: a construção naval militar no Brasil entre 1850 e 1910…”
Val, Silvio dos Santos (2015). «A Guerra do Paraguai e seu aftermath: nucleação tecnológica na Marinha do Brasil» (PDF).
al, Sylvio dos Santos (2020). Qual o futuro da Marinha como Força Estratégica?. Rio de Janeiro: Associação Nacional de História Seção Regional.
Davis, William H. (1977). «Question 1/77». Warship International. XIV (2): 161–172.

Links

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sete_de_Setembro_(coura%C3%A7ado)
https://www.naval.com.br/ngb/S/S051/S051.htm
https://www.naufragiosdobrasil.com.br/revarsetesetembro.htm

Os 150 anos de Riachuelo e suas lições, parte 2:

https://www.repositorio.dphdm.mar.mil.br/handle/ripcmb/847385
https://www.navypedia.org/ships/brazil/br_index.htm
https://www.repositorio.dphdm.mar.mil.br/bitstream/handle/ripcmb/847385/SetedeSetembroncouracado1874-1893.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

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