Brazilian ship Pedro I

Nau Pedro I, by Edoardo De Martino
Naval Museum collection
History
Kingdom of Portugal
NameSanto António e São José
NamesakeAnthony of Padua and Saint Joseph
BuilderBahia Navy Arsenal
Cost134,904,283 réis
Laid down1 October 1760
Launched29 January 1763
Completed28 February 1763
RenamedInfante D. Pedro Carlos in 1794 and Martim de Freitas in 1808
U.K. of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves
NameMartim de Freitas
NamesakeMartim de Freitas (Alcaide of the Castle of Coimbra)
Empire of Brazil
NamePedro I
NamesakePedro I of Brazil
Commissioned10 November 1822
Decommissioned1833
FateScrapped
NotesFirst commander: Frigate captain João Batista Lourenço
General characteristics
TypeShip of the line
Length60 metres (196 ft 10 in)
Beam14 metres (45 ft 11 in)
Draft6.37 metres (20 ft 11 in)
Depth12 metres (39 ft 4 in)
Sail planship rig
Complement600-900
Armament
  • Santo António e São José:
  • 70 guns
    • 26 × 24-pounder guns
    • 28 × 12-pounder guns
    • 8 × 9-pounder guns
    • 8 × 1-pounder guns
  • Pedro I:
  • 74 guns
    • 24-pounder long guns
    • 32-pounder carronades

Pedro I was a 74-gun ship of the line of the Imperial Brazilian Navy. She was a third-rate, three-masted, two-decked ship. The ship was built by Antônio da Silva in the Bahia Navy Arsenal as a 70-gun ship of the line for the Portuguese Navy in 1763. First named Santo António e São José, she took part in several naval actions in the decades after its construction such as the bombardment of Algiers in 1784.

Renamed Martim de Freitas in 1806, she was part of the fleet involved in the transfer of the Portuguese court to Brazil during the Franco-Spanish invasion of Portugal. After the Brazilian War of Independence broke out, she was seized by the Brazilians and incorporated into the newly formed Brazilian navy to fight against the Portuguese as its first flagship. Under Thomas Cochrane, Brazil's first admiral, she took part in the battle of 4 May off Salvador.

During the Cisplatine War, she was tasked with transporting Pedro I of Brazil to southern Brazil; however, due to the death of Maria Leopoldina of Austria, the emperor's wife, the ship returned to Rio de Janeiro and did not take part in any further naval actions. Pedro I served her final years as a prison ship, being scrapped in 1833 after about 70 years of service.