Minas Geraes and São Paulo carried twelve 12-inch guns, with wing turrets that could bring heavy fire toward more than one approach. This otherwise awkward arrangement had some logic around the River Plate, where threats might arrive from different directions or from more than one regional opponent. The ships needed only about 21 knots because Brazil's most valuable ports and likely battle areas were known in advance. Their appearance briefly placed Brazil among the very few navies operating dreadnoughts. The purchase forced American and European observers to treat a South American naval program as a serious strategic fact.
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Minas Geraes and Brazil's dreadnought shock
Brazil's two British-built dreadnoughts briefly transformed perceptions of global naval rank and alarmed the United States.