Brazilian cruiser Rio Grande do Sul

Rio Grande do Sul was a Bahia-class cruiser built for the Brazilian Navy in 1909–10.

Construction and commissioning
Rio Grande do Sul was part of a large 1904 naval building program by Brazil. Also planned as part of this were the two Minas Geraes-class battleship dreadnoughts, ten Pará-class destroyer (1908) destroyers, three submarines and a submarine tender. With a design that borrowed heavily from the British Adventure-class cruiser scout cruisers, Rio Grande do Sul's keel was laid in 1907 in Armstrong Whitworth's Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne yard. Construction took about a year and a half, and she was launched on 20 April 1909 with Madame A. M. Gomez Ferraz being the sponsor on behalf of Her Excellency Senhora Dr. Carlos Barbosa. As a class, Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul were the fastest cruisers in the world when they were commissioned, and the first in the Brazilian Navy to utilize steam turbines for propulsion.