Due to the necessity of the war, its initial contingent was formed by Brazilians, Portuguese who joined the independence and mainly by foreign mercenaries.

As a matter of policy, the military was to be completely obedient to civilian governmental control and to remain at arm's length from involvement in political decisions.

[12] British naval officer Lord Thomas Alexander Cochrane was made the commander of the Imperial Navy and received the rank of "First Admiral".

The Secretary of Treasury Martim Francisco Ribeiro de Andrada created a national subscription to generate capital in order to increase the size of the fleet.

In early 1822, the Portuguese navy controlled a ship of the line, two frigates, four corvettes, two brigs, and four warships of other categories in Brazilian waters.

The Brazilian agent in London, Felisberto Caldeira Brant, the Marquis of Barbacena, received orders to acquire warships fully equipped and manned on credit.

Brazilian Emperor Pedro I ordered his fleet to blockade the River Plate and its two main ports, Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

Under British and French mediation, the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and the Empire of Brazil signed the 1828 Treaty of Montevideo, which acknowledged the independence of the Cisplatina under the name Eastern Republic of Uruguay.

[21] During the turbulent years of the regency, the Arsenal, Navy department, and the Naval Jail were improved and the Imperial Mariner Corps (formed then by volunteers) was created.

The Navy also successfully fought against all revolts that occurred during the regency (where it made blockades and transported the Army troops) including: Cabanagem, Ragamuffin War, Sabinada, Balaiada, amongst others.

Ships were constructed in the Arsenal of the Navy in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Recife, Santos, Niterói and Pelotas.

The anarchy caused by the despotic Rosas and his desire to subdue Bolívia, Uruguay and Paraguay forced Brazil to intercede, in the Platine War.

The Imperial Government sent a naval force of 17 warships (a ship of the line, 10 corvettes and six steamships) commanded by the veteran John Pascoe Grenfell.

[25] Victorious in an international war, the Imperial Navy consolidated like naval power of South America guaranteeing the hegemony to Brazil in the Rio de La Plata.

[3] Brazilian naval constructors such as Napoleão Level, Trajano de Carvalho and João Cândido Brasil planned new concepts for warships that allowed the country's Arsenals to retain their competitiveness with other nations.

The navy fulfilled an important role by blocking Paraguayan access to the Plata basin and preventing its communication with the outside world.

The tactic used by Barroso to finally win the battle with the least possible losses was to break the Paraguayan wooden ships with the Brazilian ironclads.

For all practical purposes, this battle decided the outcome of the war in favor of the Triple Alliance between Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay; from that point on it controlled the waters of the Río de la Plata basin up to the entrance to Paraguay.

On 1 September, five Brazilian ironclads, Bahia, Barroso, Lima Barros, Rio de Janeiro and Brasil began bombarding the batteries at Curuzu, which continued the next day.

The ironclad "Rio de Janeiro" had a hole blown in her bottom by a torpedo, and sank almost immediately — the greater part of her crew, together with her captain, being drowned.

The purpose of the exercise was to stop the Paraguayans resupplying the fortress by river, and to provide the Allies with a much-needed propaganda victory after 4 years of an exhaustive war.

The attempt took place on 19 February 1868 and was successful, restoring the reputation of the Brazilian navy and the Empire of Brazil's financial credit, and causing the Paraguayans to evacuate their capital Asunción.

The Arsenals of the Navy in the provinces of Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Pernambuco, Pará and Mato Grosso continued to build dozens of warships.

Both ships (considered state-of-the-art by experts from Europe) allowed the Imperial Brazilian Navy to retain its position as one of the most powerful naval forces.

[37] The Baron of Ladário remained in contact with the exiled Imperial Family, hoping to restore the monarchy, but ended up ostracized by the republican government.

Admiral Saldanha da Gama led the Revolt of the Armada with the objective of restoring the Empire and allied himself with other monarchists who were fighting in the Federalist Revolution.

High-ranking Monarchist officers were imprisoned, banished or executed by firing squad without due process of law and their subordinates also suffered harsh punishments.

After independence, the newly formed Imperial Navy occupied these arsenals and shipyards, which were spread all over the Brazilian coast, in the cities of Belém, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, São Luís, Maceió and Recife.