Brazilian coastal defense ship Deodoro
Deodoro[B] was laid down by the French shipbuilding company Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée in 1896,[1][2] supervised by Admiral José Cândido Guillobel.At the beginning of the Spanish–American War (1898), officials from both participants traveled to France to inspect the incomplete Deodoro and sister ship Floriano in view of purchasing them for the conflict.The Brazilian Navy at the time was heavily segregated between white officers and broadly black or mulatto enlisted sailors, and the former would often violently punish the latter for even minor transgressions.[7] During the First World War, the navy placed Deodoro in its northern squadron, which was responsible for neutrality patrols in the area between the states of Amazonas (located up the Amazon River) and Sergipe.Deodoro, the detachment's flagship, was joined in this task by Floriano, two cruisers, two destroyers, and the six vessels of Brazil's Amazon River flotilla.