Brazilian cruiser Rio Grande do SulRio Grande do Sul was a built for the Brazilian Navy in 1909-10.Construction and commissioningRio Grande do Sul was part of a large 1904 naval building program by Brazil. Also planned as part of this were the two dreadnoughts, ten destroyers, three submarines and a submarine tender. With a design that borrowed heavily from the British scout cruisers, Rio Grande do Suls keel was laid in 1907 in Armstrong Whitworth's Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne yard. Construction took about a year and a half, and she was launched on 20 April 1909 with Madame A. M. Gomez Ferraz being the sponsor on behalf of Her Excellency Senhora Dr. Carlos Barbosa. As a class, Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul were the fastest cruisers in the world when they were commissioned, and the first in the Brazilian Navy to utilize steam turbines for propulsion.