''Parnaíba'' (U-17) is a river monitor of the

Brazilian Navy The Brazilian Navy () is the navy, naval service branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces, responsible for conducting naval warfare, naval operations. The navy was involved in War of Independence of Brazil#Naval action, Brazil's war of independence ...

. She is currently one of the last monitors in service.

History

She was built for the navy in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

and commissioned on 9 March 1938. She participated in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and is, as of 2022, one of the world's oldest commissioned warships still in active service. She is assigned to the

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...

Flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same cla ...

. During the Second World War, the ship was assigned for service in the port of

Salvador, Bahia Salvador () is a Municipalities of Brazil, Brazilian municipality and capital city of the Federative units of Brazil, state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognize ...

, where she underwent light escort missions and coastal patrols against the threat of German

submarines A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or info ...

, mainly because of her extremely shallow

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

which in theory would let any torpedo attack pass under her without any damage to the ship. Her escort missions were mainly in coastal waters because of her poor seaworthiness in open waters, which necessitated constant repairs on the ship.

Modernization

She underwent a modernisation program at the Ladario Riverine Naval Base between January 1998 and 6 May 1999, during which her original

reciprocating engine A reciprocating engine, more often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of al ...

was replaced with

diesel engines The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the die ...

to increase her range and endurance. One of her original engines was placed on display at the Sixth Naval District's Lieutenant Maximiano Memorial Hall. A helicopter platform has been fitted over the fantail, allowing her to operate the IH-6B Bell Jet Ranger III, replacing the Eurocopter AS350.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Brazilian Navy: Parnaíba U-71
(in Portuguese)
Drachinifel's video on the Parnaíba
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parnaiba Monitors of the Brazilian Navy 1937 ships Ships built in Brazil World War II monitors Naval ships of Brazil Riverine warfare