Brazilian ironclad Tamandaré The Brazilian ironclad " Tamandaré " was an armored gunboat built for the Brazilian Navy during the Paraguayan War in the mid - 1860s . She bombarded the Paraguayan fortifications blocking access up the Paraná and Paraguay Rivers as well as bombarding Paraguayan positions in support of the Brazilian Army . The ship participated in the Passagem de Humaitá in February 1868 and was badly damaged . After " Tamandaré " was repaired she provided fire support for the army for the rest of the war , aside from bombarding Paraguyan capital of Asunción once . The ship was assigned to the Mato Grosso Flotilla after the war . " Tamandaré " was decommissioned in 1879 and scrapped afterwards . Design and description . " Tamandaré " was designed to meet the need of the Brazilian Navy for a small , simple , shallow - draft armored ship capable of withstanding heavy fire . She was one of three armored gunboats , together with and , built to the same general plan , although each ship varied significantly in size and armament . The ship is best characterized as a central battery design because the casemate did not extend the length of the ship . A bronze ram , long , was fitted . The hull was sheathed with Muntz metal to reduce biofouling . For sea passages the ship ' s freeboard could be increased to by use of removable bulwarks high . On riverine operations , the bulkwarks , and the ship ' s masts , were usually removed . The ship measured long overall , with a beam of and had a mean draft of . " Tamandaré " normally displaced and at deep load . Her crew numbered 120 officers and men . Propulsion . " Tamandaré " had a single John Penn & Sons 2 - cylinder steam engine taken from the British - built wooden gunboat Tietê and proved unreliable in service . The engine , which drove a single 2 - bladed propeller , was powered by two tubular boilers that produced a total of which gave the ship a maximum speed of . The ship ' s funnel was mounted directly in front of her casemate . " Tamandaré " carried enough coal for six days ' steaming . Armament . " Tamandaré " mounted one 70 - pounder Whitworth rifled muzzle loader , three 68 - pounder and two 12 - pounder smoothbore guns in her casemate . To minimize the possibility of shells or splinters entering the casemate through the gunports they were as small as possible , allowing only a 24° - arc of fire for each gun . The rectangular , casemate had two gun ports on each side as well as the front and rear . The 70 - pounder gun weighed and fired a shell that weighed . The solid shot of the 68 - pounder gun weighed a nominal while the gun itself weighed . The gun had a range of at an elevation of 12° . The exact type of 12 - pounder gun is not known . All of the guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells . Armor . The hull of " Tamandaré " was made from three layers of wood , each thick . The ship had a complete wrought iron waterline belt , high . It had a maximum thickness of covering the machinery and magazine s , elsewhere . The curved deck , as well as the roof of the casemate , was armored with of wrought iron . The casemate was protected by 102 millimeters of armor on all four sides , backed by of wood capped with a 102 mm layer of peroba hardwood . Service . " Tamandaré " was laid down at the Arsenal de Marinha da Côrte in Rio de Janeiro on 31 May 1865 , during the Paraguayan War , which saw Argentina and Brazil allied against Paraguay . She was launched on 21 June 1865 , completed on 16 September and cost £40 , 506 . The ship arrived at Corrientes on 16 March 1866 ; the next day she sailed for the confluence of the Paraná and Paraguay Rivers to begin operations against the Paraguayans . On 26 March she bombarded the defenses of Itapirú and sank one Paraguayan boat ( chata ) . During her bombardment on the following day , a shell entered one of her gun ports , despite the chain curtain that protected it , and killed 14 men , including her captain , Lieutenant Mariz e Barros , and wounded 20 . The ship bombarded Curuzu Fort , downstream of Curupaity , on 1 September in company with the ironclads , , , , and the monitor . Between 24 and 29 December " Barroso " , " Tamandaré " , " Brasil " , and 11 gunboats bombarded Curuzu Fort again . On 8 January 1867 " Tamandaré " , " Bahia " and bombarded Paraguayan fortifications at Curupaity . The Brazilians broke through the river defenses at Curupaity during daylight on 15 August 1867 with " Barroso " , " Tamanadaré " , and eight other ironclads . The ships were hit 256 times , but not seriously damaged , and only suffered 10 killed and 22 wounded . " Tamandaré " s engines broke down while she was in front of the guns and she had to be towed to safety by the ironclad . They were quickly repaired and " Tamandaré " bombarded Paraguayan artillery batteries at Timbó that commanded the Paraguay River north of Humaitá the next day . The Paraguayans repeated the operation again on 9 September with much the same result . On 26 September the Paraguyans moved a large - caliber gun below Humaitá and bombarded the Brazilian squadron , but it was silenced by gunfire from " Tamandaré " and " Bahia " . On 19 February 1868 six Brazilian ironclads , including " Tamandaré " , sailed past Humaitá at night . Three river monitor s , , and , were lashed to the larger ironclads in case any engines were disabled by the Paraguayan guns . led with " Rio Grande " , followed by with " Alagoas " and Tamandaré with " Pará " . Both " Tamandaré " , which had taken an estimated 120 hits , and " Pará " had to be beached after passing the fortress to prevent them from sinking . " Tamandaré " was under repair at São José do Cerrito until mid - March . On 25 November the ship bombarded the Paraguyan capital of Asunción . " Tamandaré " and " Alagoas " destroyed the artillery batteries at Timbó on 23 March 1869 . The ship was assigned to the Mato Grosso Flotilla , based in Ladário , after the war . " Tamandaré " was decommissioned on 18 April 1879 and scrapped afterwards .