( 1st published in U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Sept. 1936. )

Argentina: During 1935 the ships of the Argentine Navy were distributed in the following manner;

Seagoing Fleet; ( Escuadra de Mar )

Battleship Division: battleships "Moreno" and "Rivadavia"
Cruiser Division: cruisers "Almirante Brown" and "Veiticinco de Mayo"
1st Scouting Division: scouts (destroyers) "Mendoza", "La Rioja", "Tucumán", "Cervantes" and "Juan de Garay"
2nd Scouting Division: scouts (destroyers) "Catmarca", "Jujuy", "Cordoba" and "La Plata"
Submarine Division: depot ship; the armoured cruiser "Belgrano", submarines; "Santa Fé", "Salta" and "Santiago del Estero"
1st Mine Sweeper Division: mine sweepers; M-2, M-6 (attached to submarine division), M-8, & M-9.
Auxilliary ships: transport "America", oil tanker "Ministro Ezcurra", school frigate "Presidente Sarmiento" (on foreign cruises for naval cadet training duties), tugs "Toba" and "Mataco", armoured cruiser "Pueyrredon" River Flotilla; ( Escuadrilla de Rio )
Gunboat Division: gunboats "Libertad", "Rosario", "Paraná" and "Independencía"
2nd Mine Sweeper Division: mine sweepers M-1, M-3 (attached to naval school), M-4, M-5, M-7, and "Golondrina" (under orders of Minister of Marine).

Ships operating under the Orders of the Hydrographic Service;

Surveying ships: "Alférez", "MacKinlay", "San Luis" and "San Juan"

Ships operating under the orders of the administrative Directorate-General;

Transports: "Pampa", "Chaco", and "Patagonia"

All of the above named ships are in full commission except the destroyer, "La Plata", which has reduced complement, and the cruiser "Pueyrredon", gunboat "Independencía", and surveying ship "San Juan". All save the "Independencía" will probably be recommissioned as soon as repairs, etc., are completed.

The seagoing fleet is commanded by a rear admiral, who flies his flag on one of the battleships and commands the division as well as the entire fleet. A captain commands the cruiser division. A captain commands the 1st Scouting Division, and a commander the 2nd Scouting Division. The submarine division is commanded by a commander, who is also the captain of the "Belgrano". The river flotilla operates under the orders of a captain. The chief of the 2nd Mine Sweeping Division is a commander.

- Translated from "Destinos de los Jefes y Oficiales y Planas Mayores de Buques y Reparticiones", by Walton l. Robinson.

Brazil:

(May 1936)

The Government of Brazil has undertaken an important naval program, the greatest ever undertaken in that country. The program, which will be carried out to completion in 10 years, includes the following ships:

2 cruisers armed with 6-inch guns; 10 destroyers to be built by the Thornycroft shipyards at Southampton; 6 submarines of 950 tons; one 5,000 ton tanker; all of these ships are to be built by the United Adriatic shipyards at Trieste.

A certain number of torpedo launching vedettes, mine sweepers, transports, will also be built. No contracts have been let for these ships as yet. - Le Yacht.

In July, 1936, the following was the distribution of the ships of the Brazilian Navy:

Fleet;

Battleship: "Sáo Paulo" (flag of Rear Admiral Dario Paes Lemes de Castro, Commander in Chief of the Fleet)
Cruiser Division: Cruisers "Bahia" (flag of Rear Admiral Mario de Oliveira Sampaio, Commander of the Cruiser Division) and "Rio Grande do Sul".
Destroyer Flotilla: Tender "Belmonte" and destroyers "Maranháo, "Santa Caterina", "Rio Grande de Norte", "Matto Grosso", "Sergipe", "Paraíba", "Piauí, and "Alagôas".
Auxiliaries: Fleet repair ship "Ceará" and tug "Annibal de Mendonça".

The commander of the cruiser division is normally a captain. Rear Admiral Oliveira Sampaio was a captain when ordered to his present command. The commander of the destroyer flotilla is Captain Alvaro Nogueira de Gama. In port he flies his pennant on the repair ship "Belmonte"; while at sea he shifts to a destroyer, usually the "Maranháo".

The training ship "Almirante Saldanha" is now in Europe on an instructional cruise with midshipmen. She operates directly under the orders of the Chief of the Naval Staff.

Ships operating under the orders of the Directorate of Navigation:

Hydrographic ships "Vital de Oliveira", "Calheiros da Graça", "José Bonifacio", and "Rio Branco";
mine layer "Tenente Lahmeyer";
and oil tanker "Novaes de Abreu".

Matto Grosso Flotilla: (under a captain with headquarters on shore) monitor "Pernambuco", gunboat "Oyapock", and tug "Voluntario".

Amazon Flotilla: (under a commander with headquarters on shore) lighthouse tender "Tenente Mario Alves", and gunboat "Amapá".

Undergoing modernization: Battleship "Minas Geraes".

Undergoing minor repairs: Destroyers "Rio Grande do Norte" and "Matto Grosso" of the destroyer flotilla of the fleet; tugs "Heitor Perdigáo", "Muniz Freire" (loaned to the Brazilian Lloyd Steamship Company), "D.N.O.G. (meaning Divisáo Naval em Operacáo de Guerra) and "Laurindo Pita", and the large submarine "Humaytá"

In Reserve: Old coast defense battleship "Floiano" and the destroyer "Pará". These ships will probably be scrapped soon.

Information compiled from reliable sources and contributed by Walton L. Robinson.

Chile:

During 1936 the Chilean Active fleet was organized as follows:

Escuadra Activa:

1st Division: Dreadnought "Almirante Latore" (flagship of the rear admiral, commander in chief of the Active Fleet), armoured cruiser "General O'Higgins", protected cruiser "Blanco Encalada".
2nd Division: Destroyers "Serrano", "Orella", "Riquelme", "Hyatt", "Aldea", and "Videla".
Submarine Division: Depot-ship "Araucano", submarines "Capitán O'Brien", "Capitán Thompson", and "Almirante Simpson".
Auxiliaries: Oil tanker "Maipo", mine sweepers "Elicura" and "Orompello", tugs "Piloto Sibbald", "Janequeo", and "Artillero".

The cruiser "Chacabuco" is under refit; when she is ready for service she will replace the "Blanco Encalada" in the 1st Division; the "Blanco" will then be sent to the Straits of Magellan as station ship.

Ships in reserve: Old coast defense battleship "Capitán Prat"; school-ship "General Baquedano"; destroyers "Williams", "Riveros", "Uribe", "Lynch" and "Condell"; submarines: all six of the H type.

Other miscellaneous ships, mine sweepers, tugs, etc., are also in the reserve.

Information compiled from reliable sources and contributed by Walton L. Robinson.

Cuba:

Antonio Menendez Relaez (Señor Don) sighted at Seville on February 14 after flying from Cuba. So far we have not been able to trace any reference to the journey in any British newspaper, so presumably transatlantic flights are now not news, But Seville gave him a banquet.

His machine was a Lockheed Orion, and from the fact that it bears the legend "Marina de Guerra Constitutional" we learn for the first time that Cuba has a Navy as well as an Army. The information comes from photographs which took a week to get here from Spain, about six times as long as Don Antonio took to cross the Atlantic. - The Aeroplane.

( Thanks Charles for these notes, they all help in the jigsaw puzzle of Latin American Naval History, I noticed that the Chilean ship "Huascar" was not mentioned, it is now a naval training vessel, maybe it was to be scrapped during the 1930's? but was never carried out. Will have to dig out some of the old editions of Jane's etc. to be able to compile a listing of the various navies vessels covering from the period of 1810 - 1960 names, date of commission and de-commission, place built, tonnage, dimensions and armament, nice project for the future. T.D.H. )