South American Battleships 1908-59

In 1908 the most incredible naval arms race in history began.
Flush with cash from rubber and coffee, Brazil decided to order three of the latest, greatest category of warship available - the dreadnought battleship. One Brazilian dreadnought by itself could defeat the combined gunnery of every other warship of all the other South American nations. Brazil's decision triggered its neighbour Argentina to order its own brace of dreadnoughts, which in turn forced Chile (which had fought boundary disputes with Argentina) to order some.
In the process, the South American dreadnought mania drove the three participants nearly into insolvency, led to the bankruptcy of a major shipyard, and triggered a chain of events which led Turkey to declare war on Great Britain. It also produced several groundbreaking dreadnought designs and one of the world's first aircraft carriers.

Mark Lardas holds a degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, but spent his early career at the Johnson Space Center doing Space Shuttle structural analysis, and space navigation. An amateur historian and a long-time ship modeller, Mark Lardas is currently working in League City, Texas. He has written extensively about modelling as well as naval, maritime, and military history.
Johnny Shumate works as a freelance illustrator living in Nashville, Tennessee. He began his career in 1987 after graduating from Austin Peay State University.
Julian Baker is an illustrator of a wide range of subjects. His works for Osprey Publishing include South American Battleships 1908-59 and US Flush-Deck Destroyers 1916-45.

Introduction
The South American Dreadnought Race
The Dreadnoughts
Operational History
Index