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} |} The ''Minas Geraes'' class, spelled ''Minas Gerais'' in some sources, consisted of two battleships built for the Brazilian Navy in the early twentieth century. Named and , the ships were intended to be Brazil's first step towards becoming an international power, and they consequently initiated a South American naval arms race. In 1904, Brazil began a major naval building program that included three small battleships. Designing and ordering the ships took two years, but these plans were scrapped after the revolutionary "dreadnought" concept rendered the Brazilian design obsolete—two dreadnoughts were instead ordered from the United Kingdom instead, making Brazil the third country to have ships of this type under construction—before traditional powers like Germany, France, or Russia. As such, the ships created much uncertainty among the major countries in the world, many of whom incorrectly speculated the ships were actually destined for a rival nation. Similarly, they also caused much consternation in Argentina and consequently Chile. Soon after their delivery in 1910, both ''Minas Geraes'' and ''São Paulo'' were embroiled in the Revolt of the Lash (''Revolta da Chibata''), in which the crews of four Brazilian ships demanded the abolition of corporal punishment in the navy. The mutineers surrendered after four days, when a bill was passed granting amnesty to all those involved. In 1922, the two battleships were used to help put down a revolt at Fort Copacabana. Two years later, lieutenants on ''São Paulo'' mutinied but found little support from other military units, so they sailed to Montevideo, Uruguay, and obtained asylum. ''Minas Geraes'' was modernized in the 1930s, but both battleships were too old to participate actively in the Second World War, and instead were employed as harbor defense ships in Salvador and Recife. ''São Paulo'' was sold in 1951 to a British shipbreaker, but was lost in a storm north of the Azores while being towed to its final destination. ''Minas Geraes'' was sold to an Italian scrapper in 1953 and towed to Genoa the following year. == Background == (詳細は1889 revolution, which deposed Emperor Dom Pedro II, and an 1893 civil war.〔Topliss, "The Brazilian Dreadnoughts," 240.〕〔Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 32.〕〔Martins, "Colossos do mares," 75.〕 Meanwhile, an Argentine–Chilean dispute over the boundary of Patagonia and control of the Beagle Channel kindled a naval arms race between the two beginning in the late 1880s and lasting until 1902. Restrictions were placed on the navies of both countries and major vessels under construction in both navies were sold as part of the British-mediated three pacts which ended the dispute, but both countries retained the numerous vessels built in the interim.〔Scheina, ''Naval History'', 45–52.〕〔Garrett, "Beagle Channel Dispute," 86–88.〕 As such, by the turn of the 20th century the Brazilian Navy lagged far behind the Chilean and Argentine navies in quality and total tonnage,〔〔 despite Brazil having nearly three times the population of Argentina and almost five times the population of Chile.〔〔Scheina, "Brazil," 403.〕 Soaring demand for coffee and rubber brought Brazil an influx of revenue in the early 1900s.〔 Simultaneously, there was a drive on the part of prominent Brazilians, most notably the Baron of Rio Branco, to have the country recognized as an international power.〔Scheina, ''Naval History'', 80.〕 A large naval acquisition program was drawn up and passed by the National Congress of Brazil in October 1904 in accordance with their belief that a powerful navy would be crucial to the achievement of this goal, but it was two years before any ships were ordered.〔〔〔 Two factions argued over the types of ships to be ordered. One favored a navy centered around a small number of large warships, while the other preferred a larger navy of smaller warships.〔 The latter originally prevailed with a bill authorizing the construction of three small battleships, three armored cruisers, six destroyers, twelve torpedo boats, three submarines, and two river monitors.〔〔English, ''Armed Forces'', 108.〕 Though the Brazilian government later eliminated the armored cruisers for monetary reasons, the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Júlio César de Noronha, signed a contract with Armstrong Whitworth for three battleships on 23 July 1906.〔Topliss, "The Brazilian Dreadnoughts," 240–245.〕 While the first designs for these ships were derived from the Norwegian coastal defense ship and the British (originally Chilean) , the contracted ships were to follow Armstrong Whitworth's Design 439 (Design 188 in Vickers' files). They would displace 11,800 long tons (12,000 tonnes), have a speed of 19 knots (22 mph; 35 km/h), and be protected by belt armor of 9 inches (23 cm) and deck armor of 1.5 in (3.8 cm). Each ship would be armed with twelve 10-inch (25 cm) guns mounted in six twin turrets. These turrets would be mounted in a hexagonal configuration, similar to the later German s.〔Topliss, "The Brazilian Dreadnoughts," 244–246.〕 Alarmed, the American ambassador to Brazil sent a cablegram to his Department of State in September 1906, warning them of the destabilization that would occur if the situation devolved into a full naval arms race. At the same time, the American government under Theodore Roosevelt tried using diplomatic means to coerce the Brazilians into canceling their ships, but the attempts were dismissed, with the Baron of Rio Branco remarking that caving to the American demands would render Brazil as powerless as suzerain Cuba. The President of Brazil, Afonso Pena, supported the naval acquisitions in an address to the National Congress of Brazil in November 1906, as in his opinion the ships were necessary to replace the antiquated and obsolete vessels of the current navy.〔Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 33.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Minas Geraes-class battleship」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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