History of the Brazilian Navy

The history of the Brazilian Navy begins with the adhesion of sections of the Portuguese Navy to newly independent Brazil in 1822. The Imperial Brazilian Navy was crucial to the consolidation of the Brazilian Empire and its campaigns against neighboring countries in the River Plate basin, at a time when land infrastructure was minimal. The main external influence was the Royal Navy. By the end of the Paraguayan War in 1870, Brazil was the fifth country in the world in terms of the number of ships, although this force was primarily riverine. Shipbuilding was significant, but it failed to keep pace with technological advances. The Proclamation of the Republic and the Naval Revolts gave political primacy to the Army, and the Navy entered the 20th century in decline.

In 1910, Brazil's incorporation of two powerful dreadnoughts and other ships ordered from Great Britain triggered a naval arms race with its main rival, the Argentine Navy, and the other regional power, the Chilean Navy. External dependence for maintenance prevented the full exploitation of the new ships, and the social divide between officers and enlisted men resulted in the Revolt of the Lash. Brazil entered both world wars after German submarine attacks on its merchant navy. In both conflicts, it basically had the Fleet of 1910 (although shipbuilding began to recover in the 1932 naval program). The forces in operation were subordinated to other Atlantic powers, first Great Britain and then the United States. An American naval mission, hired in 1922, and the shared experience in the Second World War placed the U.S. as the main external influence.

At the beginning of the Cold War, the Navy was equipped with surplus U.S. Navy vessels and geared towards a hypothetical anti-submarine campaign against the Soviet Navy. An aircraft carrier (Minas Gerais) emerged, although lacking attack aircraft, along with amphibious capabilities for the Marine Corps. The social question within the hierarchy was the basis for another revolt in 1964, an immediate factor in the military coup that same year. The naval programs of 1967 and 1977 represented a movement for greater autonomy, in a cycle of expansion that culminated in 1980.

At the end of the 20th century, traditional threats disappeared and new commitments were made in Antarctica, Africa, and with Argentina itself. However, the political and economic situation slowed down the projects until 2009. Under the optimism surrounding the resources of the continental shelf, a plan was drawn up to acquire two aircraft carriers, six nuclear submarines, and numerous other units. It never left the drawing board, but several shipbuilding projects continue, while other gaps in the naval inventory continue to be filled by purchases abroad. This does not compensate for the decrease in the number of assets that has occurred in the first decades of the 21st century.