Brazilian Navy The Brazilian Navy ( Portuguese : Marinha do Brasil ) is the naval service branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces , responsible for conducting naval operations . The Brazilian Navy is the largest navy in South America , and the second largest navy in the Americas , after the United States Navy . The largest vessel in the Brazilian Navy is its flagship , the NAe " São Paulo " , a 32 , 800 - ton aircraft carrier , formerly the " Foch " of the French Navy . The Brazilian Navy ' s tonnage also consists of British - built frigate s , locally built corvette s , coastal diesel - electric submarine s and many other river and coastal patrol craft , among other vehicles . The navy was involved in Brazil ' s war of independence from Portugal . Most of the Portugal ' s naval forces and bases in South America were transferred to the newly independent country . In the initial decades following independence , the country maintained a large naval force and the navy was later involved in the Cisplatine War , the River Plate conflicts , the Paraguayan War as well as other sporadic rebellions that marked Brazilian history . By the 1880s the Brazilian Navy was the most powerful in South America . After the 1893 naval rebellion , there was a hiatus in the development of the navy until 1905 , when Brazil acquired two of the most powerful and advanced dreadnought s of the day which sparked dreadnought race with Brazil ' s South American neighbours . The Brazilian Navy participated in both World War I and World War II , engaging in anti - submarine patrols in the Atlantic . Mission . In addition to the roles of a traditional navy , the Brazilian Navy also carries out the role of organizing the merchant navy and other operational safety missions traditionally conducted by a coast guard . Other roles include : History . Origins . The origins of the Brazilian Navy date back to the Portuguese naval forces based in Brazil . The transfer of the Portuguese monarchy to Brazil in 1808 during the Napoleonic wars also resulted in the transfer of a large part of the structure , personnel and ships of the Portuguese Navy . These became the core of the Navy of Brazil . Imperial Navy ( 1822 – 1889 ) . War of Independence . The Brazilian Navy came into being with the independence of the country . Some of its members were native - born Brazilians , who under Portuguese rule had been forbidden to serve , while other members were Portuguese born who adhered to the cause of independence and foreign mercenaries . A number of establishments previously created by King João VI of Portugal were incorporated into the navy such as the Department of Navy , Headquarters of the Navy , the Intendancy and Accounting Department , the Arsenal ( Shipyard ) of the Navy , the Academy of Navy Guards , the Naval Hospital , the Auditorship , the Supreme Military Council , the powder plant , and others . The Brazilian - born Captain Luís da Cunha Moreira was chosen as the first minister of the Navy on October 28 , 1822 . British naval officer Lord Thomas Alexander Cochrane was made the commander of the Brazilian Navy and received the rank of " First Admiral " . At that time , the fleet was composed of one ship of the line , four frigate s , and smaller ships for a total of 38 warships . The Secretary of Treasury Martim Francisco Ribeiro de Andrada created a national subscription to generate capital in order to increase the size of the fleet . Contributions were sent from all over Brazil . Even the Emperor Dom Pedro I acquired a merchant brig at his own expense ( renamed " Caboclo " ) and donated it to the Navy . The navy fought in the north and also south of Brazil where it had a decisive role in the independence of the country . After the suppression of the revolt in Pernambuco in 1824 and prior to the Cisplatine War , the navy increased significantly in size and strength . Starting with 38 ships in 1822 , eventually the navy had 96 modern warships of various types with over 690 cannons . Cisplatine War and rebellions ( 1825 – 49 ) . The Navy blocked the estuary of the Río de la Plata hindering the contact of the United Provinces ( as Argentina was called back then ) with the Cisplatine rebels and the outside world . Several battles had occurred between Brazilian and Argentine ships until the defeat of an Argentine flotilla composed of two corvette s , five brigs and one barquentine near the Island of Santiago in 1827 . When Pedro I abdicated in 1831 , he left a powerful navy made up of two ships of the line and ten frigate s in addition to corvettes , steamships , and other ships for a total of at least 80 warships in peace time . During the 58 - year reign of Dom Pedro II the Brazilian Navy achieved its greatest strength in relation to navies around the world . The Arsenal , Navy department , and the Naval Jail were improved and the Imperial Marine Corps was created . Steam navigation was adopted . Brazil quickly modernized its fleet acquiring ships from foreign sources while also constructing ships locally . Brazil ' s Navy substituted the old smoothbore cannons for new ones with rifled barrels , which were more accurate and had longer ranges . Improvements were also made in the Arsenals ( shipyards ) and naval bases , which were equipped with new workshops . Ships were constructed in the Naval Arsenal of Rio de Janeiro , Salvador , Recife , Santos , Niterói and Pelotas . The Navy also successfully fought against all revolts that occurred during the Regency where it conducted blockades and transported the Army troops ; including Cabanagem , Ragamuffin War , Sabinada , Balaiada , amongst others . When Emperor Pedro II was declared of legal age and assumed his constitutional prerogatives in 1840 , the Armada had over 90 warships : six frigates , seven corvettes , two barque - schooners , six brigs , eight brig - schooners , 16 gunboats , 12 schooners , seven armed brigantine - schooners , six steam barques , three transport ships , two armed luggers , two cutters and thirteen larger boats . During the 1850s the State Secretary , the Accounting Department of the Navy , the Headquarters of the Navy and the Naval Academy were reorganized and improved . New ships were purchased and the ports administrations were better equipped . The Imperial Mariner Corps was definitively regularized and the Marine Corps was created , taking the place of the Naval Artillery . The Service of Assistance for Invalids was also established , along with several schools for sailors and craftsmen . Platine & Paraguayan wars ( 1849 – 70 ) . The conflicts in the Platine region did not cease after the war of 1825 . The anarchy caused by the despotic Rosas and his desire to subdue Bolívia , Uruguay and Paraguay forced Brazil to intercede . The Brazilian Government sent a naval force of 17 warships ( a ship of the line , 10 corvettes and six steamships ) commanded by the veteran John Pascoe Grenfell . The Brazilian fleet succeeded in passing through the Argentine line of defence in Toneleros under heavy attack and transported the troops to the theater of operations . The Brazilian Armada had a total of 59 vessels of various types in 1851 : 36 armed sailing ships , 10 armed steamships , seven unarmed sailing ships and six sailing transports . More than a decade later the Armada was once again modernized and its fleet of old sailing ships was converted to a fleet of 40 steamships armed with more than 250 cannons . In 1864 the navy fought in the Uruguayan War and immediately afterwards in the Paraguayan War where it annihilated the Paraguayan navy in the Battle of Riachuelo . The navy was further augmented with the acquisition of 20 ironclad s and six fluvial monitors . At least 9 , 177 navy personnel fought in the five years ' conflict . Brazilian naval constructors such as Napoleão Level , Trajano de Carvalho and João Cândido Brasil planned new concepts for warships that allowed the country ' s Arsenals to retain their competitiveness with other nations . All damage suffered by ships was repaired and various improvements were made to the ships . In 1870 , Brazil had 94 modern warships and had the fifth most powerful navy in the world . Expansion and the end of the Empire ( 1870 – 89 ) . During the 1870s , the Brazilian Government strengthened the navy as the possibility of a war against Argentina over Paraguay ' s future became quite real . Thus , it acquired a gunboat and a corvette in 1873 ; an ironclad and a monitor in 1874 ; and immediately afterwards two cruiser s and another monitor . The improvement of the Armada continued during the 1880s . The Arsenals of the Navy in the provinces of Rio de Janeiro , Bahia , Pernambuco , Pará and Mato Grosso continued to build dozens of warships . Also , four torpedo boats were purchased . On November 30 , 1883 , the Practical School of Torpedoes was created along with a workshop devoted to constructing and repairing torpedoes and electric devices in the Arsenal of Navy of Rio de Janeiro . This Arsenal constructed four steam gunboats and one schooner , all with iron and steel hulls ( the first of these categories constructed in the country ) . The Imperial Armada reached its apex with the incorporation of the ironclad battleship s " Riachuelo " and " Aquidabã " ( both equipped with torpedo launchers ) in 1884 and 1885 , respectively . Both ships ( considered state - of - the - art by experts from Europe ) allowed the Brazilian Armada to retain its position as one of the most powerful naval forces . By 1889 , the navy had 60 warships and was the fifth or sixth most powerful navy in the world . In the last cabinet of the monarchic regime , the Minister of the Navy , Admiral José da Costa Azevedo ( the Baron of Ladário ) , left the reorganization and modernization of the navy unfinished . The coup that ended the monarchy in Brazil in 1889 was not well accepted by the personnel of the Armada . Imperial Mariners were attacked when they tried to support the imprisoned Emperor in the City Palace . The Marquis of Tamandaré begged Pedro II to allow him to fight back the coup ; however , the Emperor refused to allow any bloodshed . Tamandaré would later be imprisoned by order of the dictator Floriano Peixoto under the accusation of financing the monarchist military in the Federalist Revolution . The Baron of Ladário remained in contact with the exiled Imperial Family , hoping to restore the monarchy , but ended up ostracized by the republican government . Admiral Saldanha da Gama led the Revolt of the Armada with the objective of restoring the Empire and allied himself with other monarchists who were fighting in the Federalist Revolution . However , all the attempts at restoration were violently crushed . High - ranking Monarchist officers were imprisoned , banished or executed by firing squad without due process of law and their subordinates also suffered harsh punishments . Early republic ( 1889 – 1917 ) . Naval revolts . The military coup that led to the proclamation of the Brazilian Republic ( 1889 ) , accentuated the decline of shipbuilding in the country . For four decades , between 1890 and 1930 there were no building of new ships in Brazil . The focus of republican governments was to equip the army for the fight against internal uprisings , which faced difficulties in the new regime ' s early years . The Navy was perceived as a threat to the new republican regime , as it had been more loyal to the Monarchy . The situation became precarious in just over a decade as the Naval Battalion was reduced to 295 soldiers and Marines Imperial at 1 , 904 men . The equipment and vessels acquired were considered outdated by Navy officials , who criticized the abandonment of repair shops . Naval officers participated in two riots , known as Naval Riots . The second , avowedly monarchist , cost the officers their careers and their lives , without entering the military justice process . The sailors who obeyed his orders and took part in the attempt to restore monarchy suffered cruelly . South American naval rivalry . Brazil ' s navy fell into disrepair and obsolescence after an 1889 revolution , which deposed Emperor Dom Pedro II , and an 1893 – 94 navy revolt . Meanwhile , although the Argentine – Chilean agreement had limited their naval expansion , they still retained the numerous vessels built in the interim , so around the start of the 20th century the Brazilian Navy lagged far behind its Argentine and Chilean counterparts in quality and total tonnage , despite Brazil having nearly three times the population of Argentina and almost five times that of Chile . The navy had just forty - five percent of its authorized personnel in 1896 , and the only modern armored ships were two small coast - defense vessels launched in 1898 . Rising 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 Pinheiro Machado and the Baron of Rio Branco , to have the country recognized as an international power . A strong navy was seen as crucial to this goal . The National Congress of Brazil drew up and passed a large naval acquisition program in late 1904 , but it was two years before any ships were ordered . Law no . 1452 was passed on 30 December 1905 , which authorized £4 , 214 , 550 for new warship construction , £1 , 685 , 820 in 1906 , three small battleships , three armored cruiser s , six destroyer s , twelve torpedo boat s , three submarine s , and two river monitor s were ordered . Though the Brazilian government later eliminated the armored cruisers for reasons of cost , the Minister of the Navy , Admiral Júlio César de Noronha , signed a contract with Armstrong Whitworth for three small battleships on 23 July 1906 . British shipyards were ordered to build two dreadnought battleships , " Minas Geraes " and " São Paulo " ; this started a naval arms race with Argentina and Chile . Later the " Rio de Janeiro " was order and sold and another the " Riachuelo " was never completed as a result of the First World war . Revolt of the Lash . Soon after " São Paulo " s arrival , a major rebellion known as the Revolt of the Lash , or " Revolta da Chibata " , broke out on four of the newest ships in the Brazilian Navy . The initial spark was provided on 16 November 1910 when Afro - Brazilian sailor Marcelino Rodrigues Menezes was brutally flogged 250 times for insubordination . Many Afro - Brazilian sailors were sons of former slaves , or were former slaves freed under the " Lei Áurea " ( abolition ) but forced to enter the navy . They had been planning a revolt for some time , and Menezes became the catalyst . Further preparations were needed , so the rebellion was delayed until 22 November . The crewmen of " Minas Geraes " , " São Paulo " , the twelve - year - old " Deodoro " , and the new " Bahia " quickly took their vessels with only a minimum of bloodshed : two officers on " Minas Geraes " and one each on " São Paulo " and " Bahia " were killed . The ships were well - supplied with foodstuffs , ammunition , and coal , and the only demand of mutineers — led by João Cândido Felisberto — was the abolition of " slavery as practiced by the Brazilian Navy " . They objected to low pay , long hours , inadequate training for incompetent sailors , and punishments including " bôlo " ( being struck on the hand with a ferrule ) and the use of whips or lashes ( " chibata " ) , which eventually became a symbol of the revolt . By the 23rd , the National Congress had begun discussing the possibility of a general amnesty for the sailors . Senator Ruy Barbosa , long an opponent of slavery , lent a large amount of support , and the measure unanimously passed the Federal Senate on 24 November . The measure was then sent to the Chamber of Deputies . Humiliated by the revolt , naval officers and the president of Brazil were staunchly opposed to amnesty , so they quickly began planning to assault the rebel ships . The former believed such an action was necessary to restore the service ' s honor . Late on the 24th , the President ordered the naval officers to attack the mutineers . Officers crewed some smaller warships and the cruiser " Rio Grande do Sul " , " Bahia " s sister ship with ten 4 . 7 - inch guns . They planned to attack on the morning of the 25th , when the government expected the mutineers would return to Guanabara Bay . When they did not return and the amnesty measure neared passage in the Chamber of Deputies , the order was rescinded . After the bill passed 125 – 23 and the president signed it into law , the mutineers stood down on the 26th . During the revolt , the ships were noted by many observers to be well - handled , despite a previous belief that the Brazilian Navy was incapable of effectively operating the ships even before being split by a rebellion . World Wars ( 1917 – 1945 ) . First World War ( 1917 – 1918 ) . After the declaration of war on the Central Powers in October 1917 the Brazilian Navy participated in the war . On 21 December 1917 the British government requested that a Brazilian naval force of light cruisers be placed under Royal Navy control and a squadron comprising the cruisers " Rio Grande do Sul " and " Bahia " , the destroyers " Paraíba " , " Rio Grande do Norte " , " Piauí " , and " Santa Catarina " , and the support ship " Belmonte " and the ocean - going tug " Laurindo Pitta " was formed , designated the " Divisão Naval em Operações de Guerra " ( " Naval Division in War Operations " ) . The DNOG sailed on 31 July 1918 from Fernando de Noronha for Sierra Leone , arriving at Freetown on 9 August , and sailing onwards to its new base of operations , Dakar , on 23 August . On the night of the 25 August the division believed it had been attacked by a U - boat when the auxiliary cruiser " Belmonte " sighted a torpedo track . The purported submarine was depth - charged , fired on , and reportedly sunk by the " Rio Grande do Norte " , but the sinking was never confirmed . The DNOG patrolled the Dakar - Cape Verde - Gibraltar triangle , which was suspected to be used by U - boats waiting on convoys , until 3 November 1918 when it sailed for Gibraltar to begin operations in the Mediterranean , with the exception of the " Rio Grande do Sul " , " Rio Grande do Norte " , and " Belmonte " . The Division arrived at Gibraltar on 10 November ; while passing through the Straits of Gibraltar , they mistook three USN subchasers for U - boats but no damage was caused . Second World War ( 1942 – 1945 ) . Having the Suez Canal blocked and the necessity to go beyond to the far east , Germany used the Atlantic Ocean to maintain its supply of material necessities . In World War II , Brazil ' s navy was obsolete . In early 1942 , German submarines aimed to interdict supplies from reaching Britain and the Soviet Union . Between 1942 and 1944 , Brazil ' s Navy was supported by the United States Navy . During this period several naval bases were established in the North and Northeast of Brazil , becoming the headquarters of the Allied Command Atlantic South . Within their limitations and with the refitting and reorganization promoted with American resources , the Brazilian Navy participated actively in the fight against U - boats in the South , Central Atlantic and also the Caribbean . They guarded allied convoys bound for North Africa and the Mediterranean . Between 1942 and 1945 the navy was responsible for conducting 574 convoy operations protecting 3164 merchant ships of various nationalities . Enemy submarines managed to sink only three vessels . According to German documentation the Brazilian Navy made over sixty - six attacks against German submarines . A total of nine U - boats known German submarines were destroyed along the Brazilian coast . Those were : " U - 164 " , " U - 128 " , " U - 590 " , " U - 513 " , " U - 662 " , " U - 598 " , " U - 199 " , " U - 591 " , and " U - 161 " About 1 , 100 Brazilians died during the Battle of the Atlantic as a result of the sinking of 32 Brazilian merchant vessels and a naval warship . Among the 972 dead from the merchant vessels , 470 were crew and 502 were civilian passengers . Besides these , 99 sailors died in the sinking of the " Vital de Oliveira " when she was attacked by German submarines , in addition to some 350 deaths in accidents that resulted in the sinking of the corvette " Camaquã " on July 21 , 1944 . The cruiser " Bahia " was sunk by an explosion on July 4 , 1945 which resulted in the deaths of over 300 men . Cold war period ( 1945 – 2000 ) . Lobster War ( 1961 - 1963 ) . In 1961 , some groups of French fishermen who were operating very profitably off the coast of Mauritania decided to extend their search to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean , settling on a spot off the coast of Brazil where lobsters are found on submerged ledges at depths of 250 – 650 ft . But local fishermen complained that large boats were coming from France to catch lobster off the state of Pernambuco , so the Brazilian Admiral Arnoldo Toscano ordered two corvettes to sail to the area where the French fishing boats were located . Seeing that the fishermen ' s claim was justifiable , the captain of the Brazilian vessel then demanded that the French boats receded to deeper water , leaving the continental shelf to smaller Brazilian vessels . The situation became very tense once the French rejected this demand and radioed a message asking for the French government to send a destroyer to accompany the lobster boats , which prompted the Brazilian government to put its many ships on state of alert . French Government dispatched on 21 February the T 53 - class destroyer to watch over the fishing boats , but it was promptly repelled by a Brazilian battleship and the aircraft carrier " Minas Gerais " . 1964 Coup d ' etat . Although corporal punishment was officially abolished after the Revolt of the Lash , or Revolta da Chibata , at the end of 1910 , improvement in working conditions and career plans were still contentious in early 1960 . The dissatisfaction with officialdom and conservative politicians , coupled with the lack of vision and inability of the general policy of then president João Goulart , led the sailors , encouraged by leaders such as Corporal Anselmo , to the military coup of 1964 . The purges carried out later ( not just the Navy but for all the armed forces ) , and the establishment of certain criteria for selection of its new members were a military term in the Brazilian tradition among its members openly harboring various currents of political thought . The " Colossus " - class aircraft carrier " Minas Gerais " served the Navy until its decommissioning in 2001 . The carrier was commissioned into the Marinha do Brasil as NAeL " Minas Gerais " ( named for Kubitschek ' s home state ) on 6 December 1960 . She departed Rotterdam for Rio de Janeiro on 13 January 1961 . The duration of the refit meant that while the carrier was the first purchased by a Latin American nation , she was the second to enter service , after another " Colossus " - class carrier entered service with the Argentine Navy as ARA " Independencia " in July 1959 . Peacekeeping Operations ( 2004 – present ) . Haiti . On May 28 , 2004 four Brazilian Navy ships ( " Mattoso Maia " , " Rio de Janeiro " , " Almirante Gastão Motta " , " Bosísio " ) departed from Rio de Janeiro bound for Haiti on a peace mission coordinated by the United Nations ( UN ) . The ships transported part of the military contingent that was involved in Haitian reconstruction . In addition to 150 Marines and Army troops , the ships carried most of the materiel for the Brazilian stabilization force - approximately 120 vehicles , 26 trailers of various types , and 81 containers loaded with equipment and supplies . On February 28 , 2010 , the Brazilian Navy ship " Garcia D ' Avila " , sailed from Rio de Janeiro with 900 tons of cargo , including humanitarian aid supplies to earthquake victims in Haiti as well as equipment for the Brazilian military that operates in that country . Ammunition was brought for Brazilian soldiers in addition to 14 power generators and 30 vehicles , including trucks , ambulances and armored vehicles . The ship ' s crew consisted of 350 mariners . Peacekeeping Operations Lebanon 2011 – present . On 15 February 2011 , Brazil assumed command of the Maritime Task Force ( MTF ) of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon ( UNIFIL ) . On October 4 , 2011 the Brazilian Ministries of Defence and Foreign Relations informed authorities that Brazil was sending a Navy vessel with up to 300 crew members , equipped with an aircraft , to join the fleet of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon ( UNIFIL ) . The vessel , which was to run the fleet , was authorized by the National Congress . On November 25 , 2011 The Brazilian frigate " União " with 239 officers and sailors aboard joined the UNIFIL Maritime Task Force , bringing to nine the number of vessels in the naval component of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon ( UNIFIL ) which is assisting the Lebanese Navy in monitoring Lebanese territorial waters . The frigate served as the flagship for Rear Admiral Luiz Henrique Caroli of Brazil , the Commander of the UNIFIL - MTF since February . On April 10 , 2012 the Brazilian frigate " Liberal " left Rio de Janeiro bound for Lebanon to join UN Interim Force in Lebanon ( UNIFIL ) . On January 2013 the frigate " Constituição " ( F42 ) replaces the " Liberal " ( F43 ) in the naval force that the UN maintains in Lebanon . The frigate " Constituição " will join a multinational group comprising nine ships , three of which are from Germany , two from Bangladesh , one from Greece , one from Indonesia , and one from Turkey . The crew comprises 250 military officials . The return to Rio is scheduled for August 2013 . Present - day . Branches . The main branches of the Brazilian Navy are : Personnel . As of 2011 , the Brazilian Navy has a reported strength of 60 , 000 active personnel , of which approximately 15 , 000 are naval infantry . The current Navy Commander is Admiral Júlio Soares de Moura Neto . Active ships . As of 2012 , the Brazilian Navy had about 100 commissioned ships , with others undergoing construction , acquisition and modernization . Between 1996 and 2005 the Navy retired 21 ships . The Brazilian Navy operates one " Clemenceau " - class aircraft carrier , the " São Paulo " , former French Navy " Foch " . Four " Tupi " - class and one " Tikuna " - class Type 209 submarine submarines are in the fleet . The " Tupi " - class submarines will be upgraded by Lockheed Martin at a cost of $ 35 million . The modernization includes the replacement of existing torpedo es with new MK 48 units . On March 14 , 2008 , the Navy purchased four Scorpène - class submarines from France . The Navy is currently developing its first nuclear submarine . The Navy plans to have the Scorpène - class submarines in service in 2017 , and their first nuclear - powered submarine commissioned in 2023 . In August 2008 the Navy incorporated the corvette " Barroso " , which was designed and built in Brazil at a cost of $ 263 million . In August 2012 the Navy requested 4 new ships based on the " Barroso " class but redesigned using a stealth design . The PROSUPER program plans to acquire , firstly , five new 6 , 000 tons frigates , five new OPV and one LSV . In January 2012 BAE Systems contracted to supply three patrol vessels that were " Port of Spain " - class corvettes . The contract is worth £133m . The ocean patrol vessels are already built , originally ordered by the government of Trinidad and Tobago in a contract which was terminated in 2010 . The first vessel was commissioned at the end of June 2012 , the second was scheduled for December 2012 and the last in April 2013 . Aircraft . As of 2011 , the Naval Aviation arm of the Navy operates around 85 aircraft . All the aircraft , with the exception of the A - 4 Skyhawk s , are helicopters . The current head of the Brazilian Navies Airwing is Archana Murgesan . Naval bases . As of 2009 , the main naval bases in use are :