Bahia-class cruiser

Line drawings of the Bahia class
Class overview
Name	Bahia class
Operators	Brazilian Navy
Built	1907–1910
In commission	1910–1948
Planned	3
Completed	2
Cancelled	1
Lost	1
Scrapped	1
General characteristics
Type	Scout cruiser
Displacement	3,100 t (3,100 long tons)[1][2]
Length	122.38 m (401 ft 6 in) oa 115.82 m (380.0 ft) pp[2]
Beam	11.89–11.91 m (39 ft 0 in – 39 ft 1 in)[2]
Draft	3.81 m (12 ft 6 in) forward[2] 4.75 m (15.6 ft) amidships[2] 4.42 m (14.5 ft) aft[2]
Propulsion	Five Parsons steam turbines,[3] ten Yarrow boilers[2] Coal normal 150 t (150 long tons; 170 short tons)[3] Maximum 650 t (640 long tons; 720 short tons)[3]
Speed	26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph) as designed[1] 27.016 knots (50.034 km/h; 31.089 mph) trial[1] 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) at full load[2]
Endurance	1,400 nmi (2,600 km; 1,600 mi) at 23.5 knots (43.5 km/h; 27.0 mph)[3] 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)[3]
Complement	320[3] to 357[2]
Armament	ten × 120 mm (4.7 in)/50 caliber,[2] six × 47 mm (1.9 in)/50 caliber,[1][2] two × 457 mm (18.0 in) torpedo tubes[1]
Armor	Deck: 19 mm (0.75 in)[1] Conning tower: 76 mm (3.0 in)[1]
Notes	These specifications apply to when Bahia was commissioned.

The Bahia class was a pair of scout cruisers built for Brazil by Armstrong Whitworth in the United Kingdom, based on a design that borrowed heavily from the British Adventure-class scout cruisers. The class comprised the lead ship Bahia and her sister Rio Grande do Sul, along with a canceled third ship, Ceara.^[4] Both were named after states of Brazil. As a class, they were the fastest cruisers in the world when commissioned, and the first in the Brazilian Navy to use steam turbines for propulsion.

In the mid-1920s, both ships were extensively modernized with three new Brown–Curtis turbine engines and six new Thornycroft boilers, and, in the process, was converted from coal-burning ships to oil-burning. The refit resulted in a striking aesthetic change, with the exhaust being trunked into three funnels, instead of two. The armament was also modified; three 20.1 mm (0.79 in) Madsen guns, a 7 mm (0.28 in) Hotchkiss machine gun, and four 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes were added.

In the Second World War, both were used as convoy escorts. On 4 July 1945, Bahia was lost after an accident caused a massive explosion which incapacitated the ship and sunk her within minutes, resulting a large loss of life. Rio Grande do Sul survived the war and was scrapped in 1948.