Built as a wooden hulled paddle-steamer corvette by Astillero Augustin Normand, Le Havre, France for the Brazilian Navy.
1858 Launched as the PARNAHYBA, named after the Parnahyba River, she was the second vessel in the Brazilian Navy that carried this name.
Displacement 602 ton, dim. ?
Auxiliary steam engine 120 (n)hp, speed 12 knots.
Armament 4 – 32 inch guns, 2 howitzers of 68 calibre and 4 – 32-caliber.
Crew?
11 June 1859 commissioned.
1859 She arrived in Rio de Janeiro.
04 December 1864 during the invasion of Brazil in Uruguay a squadron of the Brazilian Navy under which the corvettes PARNAHYBA, BELMONTE, RECIFE and the gunboats ARAGUARY and IVAHY landed Brazilian forces which included 200 marines, 200 men of the1st Infantry Battalion and artillery pieces. These forces besieged and attacked Paysandú. The first attack was repelled
In December the Brazilian troops received reinforcement of the corvette JEQUITINHONHA, an army division under command of Venancio Flores and the Brazilian general Joao Propicio Menna Barreto, Antonio de Sampaio and Antonio de Sousa Neto which captured Paysandu on 2 January 1865 after 52 hours of uninterrupted fighting the troops and volunteers capitulated in Paysandu.
After the outbreak of the War of Paraguay, the PARNAHYBA left Buenos Aires on 30 April 1865 under command of Capt. Lieut. Aurélio Garcindo Fernandes de Sé as a unit of the squadron under command of Admiral Francisco Manuel Barrosa da Silva. The squadron flagship was the frigate AMAZONNAS and the following units, corvettes BEBERIBE, BELMONTE and JEQUITINHONHA and the gunboats ARAGUARY, MEARIM, IPIRANGA and IGUATEMY.
The Imperial fleet sailed upstream the Parana River to block the Paraguayan fleet in Tres Bocas, the confluence of the Paraguay and Parana Rivers.
10 June 1865 the Paraguayan fleet was at anchor in the Paraguay River near Humaita, under command of Commander Pedro Ignacio Meza, aboard his flagship the TACUARI and six other warships and three barges, while the Brazilian fleet had 9 ships which had docked near the Barranquerra Island.
The Paraguayan fleet left the anchorage during the night of 10 June 1865 to surprise the docked Brazilian fleet early in the morning but by engine trouble one ship the YBERÁ was left behind, and by losing some hours to try to repair her some valuable time was lost and it was already after sunrise that they neared the Brazilian fleet. The orders of Meza were to board the Brazilian ships which had send his troops and most of the crew ashore, but the orders were not followed the Paraguayan fleet continue downstream and fired at the camp and the Brazilian docked vessels. This new course of action proved catastrophic.
The Brazilian boarded again there vessels and returned fire there by hitting one of the Paraguayan vessels in the boiler. When out of range the Paraguayan fleet turned upstream and anchored to block the Brazilian fleet.
11 June during the Battle of Riachuelo in which de PARNAHYBA was attacked by three vessels a ferocious battle took place in which she received 13 hits, 80 men lost their life on board and 29 were injured.
When she get rid of the enemy ships she joined again the frigate AMAZONAS in pursuit of enemy ships.
12 August 1865 took part in the Battle of Paso de Cuevas
22 September 1866 took part in the naval bombardment of Curupaiti.
1866 Out of service, fate unknown.
Uruguay 2015 $50 sg?, scott?
Source: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parnahyba_(1858)