The Mariz e Barros-class ironclads were a pair of armored corvettes originally ordered by Paraguay in 1864, but were sold to Brazil when Paraguay defaulted on the payments. Configured as central-battery ironclads, they served during the 1864–1870 Paraguayan War between Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay against Paraguay. was scrapped in 1879 while was converted into a floating battery in 1884 and scrapped in 1897.
Design and description The ships were long, had a beam of and drafts of . They displaced . The Mariz e Barros class had a pair of steam engines, each driving one propeller. The engines produced a total of and gave the ships a maximum speed of . They carried of coal although nothing is known about their range or endurance. They were fully rigged with three masts. Their crew consisted of 125 officers and enlisted men.Lyon, p. 406
Mariz e Barros was armed with two 120-pounder Whitworth rifled muzzle-loading guns and two smoothbore 68-pounder guns, while Herval had four 120-pounder guns. The ships had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that ranged in thickness from amidships to at the ends of the ship.
Ships Paraguayan nameBrazilian nameNamesake Builder Laid downSilverstone, pp. 37–38 Launched CompletedFateTritonLieutenant Antonio Mariz e BarrosJ. and G. Rennie, Millwall, London1864186523 July 1866Stricken, 1897MedusaGeneral Manuel Luís Osório, the Marquess of Herval14 June 1866Stricken, 1885
See also List of ironclads List of historical ships of the Brazilian Navy
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