page_title: Imperial Brazilian Navy
section_title: Paraguayan War
hierarchical_section_title: Imperial Brazilian Navy / Second Reign, 1831-1889 / Paraguayan War
caption_attribution_description: English: The port of Humaitá fortress seen from land and at the background, the masts of the anchored Brazilian warships, c.1868. Português: A capitania de Humaitá vista de terra e ao fundo, os mastros dos navios de guerra brasileiros ancorados, c.1868.Deutsch: Hafen von Humaitá (Guaraní Humaita), die kleine Hafenstadt am Rio Paraguay, etwa 24 km nördlich vom Zusammenfluss mit dem Río Paraná. Hier fand 1868 eine fast dreijährigen Schlacht der Tripel-Allianz-Krieges gegen Präsident Francisco Solano López Carrillo (1827-1870) statt. Die Belagerung der Stadt und ihrer Festung führte zu einigen der blutigsten Schlachten Lateinamerikas und wurde seinerzeit mit der Belagerung von Sewastopol verglichen. Im Hintergrund sieht man die Masten eines siegreichen, brasilianischen Kriegsschiffes um 1868. Die Reste der zerstörten Kirche wurde unter dem Diktator Alfredo Stroessner, der 1954–1989 das Land beherrschte, zum Denkmal der Defensa de la Patria (Verteidigung der Heimat) von Paraguay.
context_page_description: The Imperial Brazilian Navy was the navy created at the time of the independence of the Empire of Brazil from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. It existed between 1822 and 1889 during the vigency of the constitutional monarchy. The Navy was formed almost entirely by ships, staff, organizations and doctrines proceeding from the transference of the Portuguese Royal Family in 1808. Some of its members were native-born Brazilians, who under Portugal had been forbidden to serve. Other members were Portuguese who adhered to the cause of separation and German and Irish mercenaries. Some establishments created by King João VI were used and incorporated. Under the reign of Emperor Pedro II the Navy was greatly expanded to become the fifth most powerful navy in the world and the armed force more popular and loyal to the Brazilian monarchy. The republican coup d'état in 1889, led by army men, put an end to the Imperial Navy that fell into decay until the new century.
context_section_description: Brazil's first line of military was his large and powerful navy. The navy fulfilled an important role by blocking Paraguayan access to the Plata basin and preventing its communication with the outside world. After the initial Paraguayan advance, the imperial navy went up the paraná and Paraguay rivers containing the Paraguayan advance. On 11 June 1865 the naval Battle of Riachuelo the Brazilian fleet commanded by Admiral Francisco Manoel Barroso da Silva destroyed the Paraguayan navy and prevented the Paraguayans from permanently occupying Argentine territory. The tactic used by Barroso to finally win the battle with the least possible losses was to break the Paraguayan wooden ships with the Brazilian ironclads. For all practical purposes, this battle decided the outcome of the war in favor of the Triple Alliance between Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay; from that point on it controlled the waters of the Río de la Plata basin up to the entrance to Paraguay. Following the victory after the Battle of Riachuelo, and running the gauntlet set up by Paraguayans at Bella Vista in the Battle of Paso de Mercedes the day before, the allied fleet advanced down the River Parana, not wanting to be cut off from its supply base.
  
  After the sequence of battles won by the Allies on 1866, an Allied council of war decided to use their navy to bombard and capture the Paraguayan battery at Curupayti. On 1 September, five Brazilian ironclads, Bahia, Barroso, Lima Barros, Rio de Janeiro and Brasil began bombarding the batteries at Curuzu, which continued the next day.  That is when the Rio de Janeiro hit two mines and sank immediately along with her commander Américo Brasílio Silvado, and 50 sailors. Along with the Imperial Army land support, on 3 September, the fort was stormed. The defenders relied on the advantage of the wetlands and bushes around the fort. The fort was conquered after a heavy bombardment. The ironclad "Rio de Janeiro" had a hole blown in her bottom by a torpedo, and sank almost immediately 
   — the greater part of her crew, together with her captain, being drowned. This was the only ironclad which was sunk during the war.
  In 1868 occurried another great naval battle; the Passage of Humaitá which was an operation of riverine warfare − the most lethal in South American history − in which a force of six Brazilian Navy armoured vessels was ordered to dash past under the guns of the Fortress of Humaitá on the Paraguay River. Some competent neutral observers had considered that the feat was very nearly impossible. The purpose of the exercise was to stop the Paraguayans resupplying the fortress by river, and to provide the Allies with a much-needed propaganda victory after 4 years of an exhaustive war. The attempt took place on 19 February 1868 and was successful, restoring the reputation of the Brazilian navy and the Empire of Brazil's financial credit, and causing the Paraguayans to evacuate their capital Asunción. Some authors have considered that it was the turning point or culminating event of the war. The fortress, by then fully surrounded by Allied forces on land or blockaded by water, was captured on 25 July 1868.
caption: The Imperial Navy in Humaitá, Paraguay, 1868.
exif: {}