Configured as a central-battery ironclad, she served during the 1864–70 War of the Triple Alliance between Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay against Paraguay.

Concerned about the construction of ironclad warships in Europe and North America, the Imperial Brazilian Minister of the Navy, Rear Admiral Joaquim Raimundo de Lamare, sent a small mission to Europe to study the latest advances in armor and steam propulsion technology.

Upon its return in March 1863, it brought back plans and estimates for a small armored corvette as well as river gunboats to be built in France.

She was fully rigged with three masts and a bowsprit and had a sail area of 550 square meters (5,900 sq ft).

[2] Brasil, named for the nation,[4] was ordered on 5 January 1864 from the French shipbuilding company Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée.