Ministro Zenteno

History

Chile

Name: Ministro Zenteno

Namesake: Jos? Ignacio Zenteno

Ordered: Brazil

Builder: Armstrong, Mitchell and Company

Cost: ₤ 265,000

Laid down: 1895

Launched: 1 January 1896

Decommissioned: 1930

General characteristics

Class and type: Protected cruiser

Displacement: 3,437 tons

Length: 100.6 m (330 ft 1 in) pp

Beam: 13.3 m (43 ft 8 in)

Draft: 17 ft (5.2 m)

Installed power: 7,500

Propulsion: VTE, 8 cylindrical boilers
Speed: 20.2 knots (37.4 km/h; 23.2 mph)
Range: 850 t

Armament: ? 8 ? 1 - 152/40 Armstrong W,

? 10 ? 1 - 57/40 Hotchkiss,

? 4 ? 1 - 37/23 Hotchkiss,

? 3 - 450 Torpedo Tubes (1 bow, 2 beam)

Armor: Deck: 32 mm (1.3 in) with 89 mm (3.5 in) slopes, CT: 102

Service history
Ministro Zenteno was laid down in 1895 for the Brazilian Navy, but was sold in August 1895 to the Chilean government. The ship was launched in 1896. Ministro Zenteno was one of four protected cruisers ordered by Brazil, but they eventually acquired only Almirante Barroso due to financial difficulties. The sister ships Amazonas (later USS New Orleans) and Almirante Abreu (later USS Albany) were purchased by the United States Navy.
Ministro Zenteno attended the Pan-American Conference in Mexico in 1901.
In 1907 she sailed off Valpara?so for a training cruise bound for Punta Arenas, Bah?a, La Guaira, Bermudas, Hampton Roads, Annapolis, Newport, Plymouth, Brest, El Ferrol, Lisboa, Argel, Malta, Spezia, Genova, Barcelona, Cartagena, Gibraltar, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, R?o de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Puerto Madryn, Punta Arenas, Puerto Montt, Talcahuano, and back to Valpara?so on 8 December 1907.