WesWorld

I hope someone here can help on some questions I have.

1) What is the state of Paraguay's navy?
I've googled it and got very little. I believe there are a couple of 19th century gunboats. I presume the real-world Humaita class built in Italy in 1931 (and still in service!) do not exist.

2) Given the larger vessels in the Navy today (all in use since the 1930s-40s) are the Rio Pilcomayo and Rio Alto Parana navigable by large vessels?
The Humaitas have a draught of 1.7 m (5.4 ft) and the Bouchards transferred from Argentina in the 1940s had a draught of 2.6m (8.6 ft). Does this mean a 2.6m and under ship get from the Atlantic up the rivers easily? Can anything bigger get up there?

3) Any other geograhpical data would be handy.

Thanks in advance.

Sorry I don't have much on Paraguay. I'd say use historical data but use another builder for the ships, or have them start now in 1932 (only a year or so late).

In other news...has anyone heard from Frywulf recently? His input (good or bad depending on the situation) is needed, both in South America, and probably at the Treaty Talks.

I do have some info in reguards to Paraguays army.

They historically captured some Vickers 6 ton tanks from Bolivia durring the Chago war. They could perhaps recieve them, but from an alternate source.

Naval wise they seem to have had 4 river gunboats.

Capitan Cabral (1907) 150 tons, 1x3" gun, 12.5 knots
Tacuari (1910) 150 tons, 2x3" guns, 10 knots
Humaita and Paraguay (1931), 745 tons, 4x4.7", 3x3" DP, mines, 17 knots

Thanks for the info guys.

I'm going to assume Humaita and her sister were commissioned in 1931 as historical but built in Paraguay, they must have done something with 1000tons per quarter for all these years!

Data from The World's Navies by Chris Chant, 1979.

Paraguay and Humaita, 636 tons standard, length 70m, beam 10.7m, draught 1.7m, 4x1 120mm 3x 76mm HA, 2 boilers and Parsons turbines 3,800shp to two shafts, 17 kts, 1,700 miles at 16kts and 86 crew.

I'll assume some tanks in the inventory but not many more than a dozen or so. Thanks to Gavin's news we know some Italian aircraft types are in service.

[Edit to correct typo, should have said not many more than a dozen. Hope that answers Hrolf's question below. I would say a dictatorship wants a couple of tanks to impress on parade.]

I'd be a little restrained on adding too many tanks to Paraguay's inventory, simply because Paraguay is a pretty poor country AND tanks, at this period, are not overly reliable and quite expensive. Not to mention that if they're added to an army that moves by foot and mule/horseback, you've just added a much more difficult element of a logistics trail: fuel.

Also tanks don't work very well in the jungles.

If they do have tanks 6 would seem realistic for the period for smaller South American country's.

How proficient they are with those tanks is another matter.

It seems to me that tankettes might be more useful than actual tanks in Paraguay.