Brazilian ship Pedro I conflict Battle of 4 May
Pedro I was a ship of the line of the Imperial Brazilian Navy. It was a third-rate, three-masted, two-decked, 74-gunned sailing ship. The ship was built by shipbuilder Antônio da Silva in the Bahia Navy Arsenal in Salvador for the Portuguese navy in Colonial Brazil in 1763. First named Santo António e São José, it took part in several naval actions in the decades after its construction such as the bombardment of Algiers in 1784.
It was part of the fleet that transferred the Portuguese royal family and its court to Brazil during the French invasion of Portugal. Later, during the Brazilian War of Independence, it was seized by the Brazilians and incorporated into the newly formed Imperial Brazilian Navy to fight the Portuguese forces stationed in Brazil, being the navy's first flagship, whose commander was admiral Thomas Cochrane, the first admiral of Brazil, and taking part in the battle of 4 May off Salvador.
During the Cisplatine War the ship was tasked with transporting emperor Pedro I to southern Brazil; however, due to the death of Maria Leopoldina of Austria, the emperor's wife, it returned to Rio de Janeiro and did not take part in any further naval actions. Pedro I served its final years as a prison ship, being scrapped in 1833 after about 70 years in service.Pedro I sailed for Bahia in order to blockade the Portuguese forces stationed there. On 4 May 1823 it fought against a larger Portuguese fleet, damaging it, but with no victory for either side, as the Portuguese powder monkeys refused to provide ammunition for the guns at the height of the battle. On that battle Pedro I suffered 17 casualties between killed and wounded. On May 5 it entered the Morro de São Paulo. There the 18-pounder guns on the deck were changed for the 24-pounder guns of the Ipiranga frigate, which were lighter. The 32-pounder carronades of Ipiranga were also mounted on Pedro I's orlop, increasing its total guns. The ship's crew was complemented to a total of 900 men, gathered from the rest of the squadron. After the changes, Pedro I had one 32-pounder battery and two 24-pounder batteries.On June 12, accompanied by two more ships, Pedro I entered the port of Bahia and tried to attack the Portuguese fleet that was anchored there. The lack of wind and
the low tide frustrated Cochrane's attack. On July 2, it left with the other ships of the fleet in pursuit of the Portuguese way up the Equator line, managing to capture many enemy ships, however, admiral Cochrane decided to return on July 17 to subdue the northern parts of Brazil that were still under Portuguese control. On July 26, Pedro I arrived in São Luís, capital of the captaincy of Maranhão, which was still occupied by the Portuguese. After entering the port, a feat never hitherto carried out by a ship of that type, and making an elevation shot over the city in such a way that terrified the Portuguese occupiers, Cochrane told the Portuguese his ship was the spearhead of a large Brazilian fleet, the strategy worked and the Portuguese surrendered the town on July 31. It was immediately incorporated into the empire. For this service Cochrane was awarded the noble title of Marquis of Maranhão.
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