Full Ahead

the foreign presence at the beginning of the Engineering Corps of the Brazilian Imperial Navy (1857 – 1876)

Abstract

In the 19th century, naval forces underwent changes that profoundly transformed them. At the end of the century, steam-powered steel battleships, with eight or ten cannons, surpassed in speed and fire the ships of the squadrons made up of ships of the line at the beginning of the century, with wooden hulls, large canopies and more than a hundred cannons. The introduction of steam engines in the Brazilian Navy meant the entry of a new professional into its ranks. This research focuses on the initial period of the Machinist Corps, which today forms part of the Brazilian Navy Officer Corps, analyzing its antecedents, its creation and the changes it underwent, until it was entirely nationalized. Presents a sample of these professionals based on data collected on a group of engineers and assistants who were on board one of the battleships that participated in the Paraguay War.