Imaginary Brazilian ironclads

I’ve been creating a YouTube video about Imperial Brazil’s ironclads, and during a break I decided to ask ChatGPT to create two imaginary Brazilian ironclads.

The first is the casemate ironclad Imperatriz Maria da Glória.

• Type: Central battery casemate ironclad (riverine and coastal operations)
• Displacement: 1,400 tons
• Dimensions: Length: 60 m (197 ft); Beam: 13 m (43 ft); Draught: 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
• Propulsion: Coal-fired boilers providing steam to two horizontal steam engines, each driving a propeller
• Speed: 12 knots
• Complement: 140 officers and men
• Armour: Casemate:102 mm (4 in) iron on 600 mm (24 in) wood backing; Deck: 25 mm (1 in) iron; Conning tower: 76 mm (3 in) iron; Belt: 76 mm (3 in) iron amidships tapering to 51 mm (2 in) at bow/stern
• Armament: 2 × 70-pounder Whitworth rifled muzzle-loading guns; 2 × 68-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading guns; 2 × 32-pounder muzzle-loading carronades; Bow-mounted retractable spar torpedo boom
• Design Features:
• Low profile, turtleback casemate
• Curved raked bow with reinforced ram
• Retractable spar torpedo boom
• Shallow draft hull
• Colour Scheme: Charcoal grey-black
• Historical Context (Fictionalised): The Imperatriz Maria da Glória was commissioned in 1867, following heavy fighting at the Passage of Humaitá. Built in Rio de Janeiro using imported British engines and domestic iron plating, she served as a flagship in the final campaigns upriver against Paraguayan strongholds. Though slightly slower than her predecessors, her heavier guns and more complete armour made her a formidable presence in shallow and fortified waters.

The second is the single-turret monitor Cabral

• Type: Riverine turreted monitor (low-freeboard armoured vessel)
• Displacement: 800 tons
• Dimensions: Length: 45 meters (148 ft); Beam: 11 meters (36 ft); Draught: 2.1 meters (6 ft 11 in)
• Propulsion: Coal-fired boilers providing steam to two horizontal steam engines, each driving a propeller
• Max speed: 9 knots
• Complement: 85 officers and men
• Armour: Turret: 152 mm (6 in) iron; Deck: 25 mm (1 in) iron; Belt: 76 mm (3 in) amidships, 51 mm (2 in) forward and aft; Pilothouse: 76 mm (3 in) iron
• Armament: 2 x 120-pounder Whitworth rifled muzzle-loading guns mounted in a manually rotated or steam-powered turret with a 300° field of fire; 2 × 24-pounder muzzle-loading howitzers; Bow-mounted retractable spar torpedo boom
• Design Features:
• Single large central turret
• Low freeboard hull
• Pilot tower on the top of the turret with limited visibility slits
• Heavy iron ram fitted to reinforced bow
• Stern winch for warping the ship forward during riverine manoeuvrers or in difficult river currents
• Ventilation cowls and light canvas awnings to reduce heat stress in tropical climes
• Colour Scheme: Charcoal grey-black 
• Historical Context (Fictionalised): Commissioned in 1868, the Cabral was designed in response to the narrow river actions and strong Paraguayan forts that neutralized broadside ironclads. Designed by a team of French engineers under contract in Rio de Janeiro, she was the first Brazilian vessel to use a fully traversing turret and famously took part in the second passage of Humaitá, exchanging fire with fort guns while taking minimal return fire due to her low silhouette.

The AI-created images of these two ironclads are not quite consistent ... but they certainly look feasible. I particularly like the layout of the main armament of the Imperatriz Maria da Glória - which seems to be concentrated forward so that she could fire at an enemy ship as she approaches at ramming speed - and the turtle-back hull of the Cabral.

This was an interesting exercise and produced two ship designs that would be ideal for an nineteenth century imagi-nation's navy.