Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 10, 2015

The two Minas Geraes-class battleships were built during the first decade of the twentieth century for the Brazilian Navy. Named BRAZILIAN BATTLESHIP Minas Geraes and BRAZILIAN BATTLESHIP São Paulo, Brazil's order for these "dreadnoughts"—powerful warships whose capabilities far outstripped those of the world's older battleships—initiated a vastly expensive South American naval arms race. Once in service, Minas Geraes and São Paulo were only ever used for or against rebellions. Soon after the ships arrived in Brazil in 1910, their crews revolted against the continued use of corporal punishment (in this case, whipping or "lashing") in the navy. In 1922, the government used both warships to help put down an army rebellion. São Paulo's crew mutinied in 1924, but eight years later the ship helped the government break a rebel blockade. During the Second World War, the obsolete dreadnoughts were used as harbor defense vessels for ports in northeast Brazil. They were both sold for scrap after the war, but São Paulo sank without a trace while under tow.