Marcílio Dias-class destroyer
The Marcílio Dias-class destroyers (sometimes referred to as M class) were three destroyers of the Brazilian Navy that served during World War II. They were based on the United States Navy's . They entered service in 1943 and served on Atlantic convoy duty with the Allies. In July 1944, the three destroyers escorted the Brazilian Expeditionary Force to Italy. Following the end of the war, the destroyers remained in service, undergoing modernisation. Two were discarded in 1966, with the last taken out of service in 1973. Design and description The Marcílio Dias class was based on the United States' , built within Brazil. They had a standard displacement of and were at full load. They were long overall and between perpendiculars with a beam of and a mean draught of . The destroyers were powered by four Babcock & Wilcox Express boilers supplying steam to General Electric Company geared turbines that drove two shafts. The engines were rated at and the vessels had a maximum speed of . The Marcílio Dias class had capacity for of fuel oil and had a range of at . The destroyers had a complement of 190 officers and ratings. The planned armament of the