Nictheroy (Brazilian Auxiliary Cruiser, 1893-1898).
Previously S.S. El Cid, later USS Buffalo (AD-8)

Photo # NH 105941: Brazilian Auxiliary Cruiser Nictheroy fitting out at New York in November 1893.

Nictheroy, a 7080-ton (displacement) Brazilian auxiliary cruiser, was built at Newport News, Virginia, in 1893 as the Morgan Line's coastal passenger and cargo ship El Cid. The Brazilian government, faced with a mutiny by most of its Navy, came to the United States looking for ships, and El Cid became one of its purchases. Her conversion was conducted with the utmost haste. The ship returned to New York on 26 October 1893 from a commercial voyage, was put in dry dock at the Erie Basin in Brooklyn around 31 October, and after about two days there was moved to the docks of the Morgan Iron Works in Manhattan just above the Brooklyn Bridge for conversion. There, E. W. Very, late Lieutenant USN and now General Director of the Hotchkiss Ordnance Co., took charge of installing her armament, which included a 15-inch dynamite gun in the bow similar to the three on USS Vesuvius. On 18 November the ship left her pier practically complete and on 20 November she sailed for Brazil as a Brazilian warship.

Nictheroy arrived at Rio de Janeiro in March 1894 and joined the force confronting the mutinous navy. The Navy revolt ended later in 1894 without Nictheroy having used her dynamite gun, and the ship was subsequently used as an accomodation ship for the school for apprentice seamen at Rio de Janeiro. In early 1898 the United States made arrangements to purchase her, along with the cruisers Amazonas and Almirante Abreu (later USS New Orleans and Albany respectively), then under construction in England. When personnel from USS Oregon inspected Nictheroy in March 1898 they found that she no longer had any guns. She was placed in commission in ordinary as USS Buffalo in July 1898, probably after her return voyage from Brazil.

This page features some views of the Brazilian Auxiliary Cruiser Nictheroy, which was later USS Buffalo (AD-8).

For other images concerning this ship, see:

  • USS Buffalo (1898-1927, later AD-8)
  • USS Buffalo -- Activities and Crew
  • USS Buffalo -- In Drydock
  • USS Buffalo -- 1914 Alaskan Radio Expedition (Part 1: April-June 1914)
  • USS Buffalo -- 1914 Alaskan Radio Expedition (Part 2: May-September 1914)
  • USS Buffalo -- 1914 Alaskan Radio Expedition (Part 3: September-October 1914)
  • USS Buffalo -- 1914 Alaskan Radio Expedition -- Crew
  • USS Buffalo -- 1914 Alaskan Radio Radio Stations and Settlements

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    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 105941

    Nictheroy
    (Brazilian auxiliary cruiser, 1893-1898, ex S.S. El Cid, later USS Buffalo)

    Probably shown fitting out for Brazilian Navy service in November 1898 at the Morgan Iron Works, New York City.
    Her single 15-inch dynamite gun is on the forecastle. A small quick fire gun, probably one of her eight 6-pounder Hotchkiss weapons, is barely visible behind a shield on the weather deck aft. Six of the other 6-pounders were carried behind ports in the hull along with four tubes for Howell torpedoes. Her former name, El Cid, has been painted out on the bow but the ship still wears the rest of her mercantile paint scheme.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

     
    Photo #: NH 105942

    Nictheroy
    (Brazilian auxiliary cruiser, 1893-1898, ex S.S. El Cid, later USS Buffalo)

    Probably shown fitting out for Brazilian Navy service in November 1898 at the Morgan Iron Works, New York City.
    Her single 15-inch dynamite gun on the forecastle was offset 3 feet to starboard of the centerline and was trainable right ahead and on both bows. The gun on the right may be one of the two 33-pounder (4-inch) Hotchkiss quick fire guns that were listed as having been "mounted forward on the bluff of the bow on each side," although it might also be a smaller caliber weapon.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

     
    Photo #: NH 105943

    Nictheroy
    (Brazilian auxiliary cruiser, 1893-1898, ex S.S. El Cid, later USS Buffalo)

    Probably shown fitting out for Brazilian Navy service in November 1898 at the Morgan Iron Works, New York City.
    Shown looking forward from near the stern, aft of the main mast. The gun is one of the ship's nine one-pounder Hotchkiss quick fire weapons, eight of which were mounted on top of the deck houses. She also had two 1-pounder Hotchkiss machine guns on top of the pilot house.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

     
    Photo #: NH 105944

    Nictheroy
    (Brazilian auxiliary cruiser, 1893-1898, ex S.S. El Cid, later USS Buffalo)

    Probably shown fitting out for Brazilian Navy service in November 1898 at the Morgan Iron Works, New York City.
    The gun, which is mounted on the stern, is almost certainly a 4.7" quick fire weapon built by the Hotchkiss Ordnance Co.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

     

    For other images concerning this ship, see:

  • USS Buffalo (1898-1927, later AD-8)
  • USS Buffalo -- Activities and Crew
  • USS Buffalo -- In Drydock
  • USS Buffalo -- 1914 Alaskan Radio Expedition (Part 1: April-June 1914)
  • USS Buffalo -- 1914 Alaskan Radio Expedition (Part 2: May-September 1914)
  • USS Buffalo -- 1914 Alaskan Radio Expedition (Part 3: September-October 1914)
  • USS Buffalo -- 1914 Alaskan Radio Expedition -- Crew
  • USS Buffalo -- 1914 Alaskan Radio Radio Stations and Settlements

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    Page made 12 October 2008