The Pará-class monitors were designed to meet the need of the Brazilian Navy for small, shallow-draft armoured ships capable of withstanding heavy fire. The monitor configuration was chosen as a turreted design did not have the same problems engaging enemy ships and fortifications as did the central battery ironclads already in Brazilian service. The gun turret sat on a circular platform that had a central pivot. It was rotated by four men via a system of gears; 2.25 minutes were required for a full 360° rotation. A bronze ram was fitted to these ships as well. The hull was sheathed with Muntz metal to reduce biofouling. The ships measuredlong overall, with a beam of. They had a draft between of and displaced. With only of freeboard they had to be towed between Rio de Janeiro and their area of operations. Their crew numbered 43 officers and men.
Propulsion
The Pará-class ships had two direct-acting steam engines, each driving a single propeller. Their engines were powered by two tubular boilers at a working pressure of. The engines produced a total of which gave the monitors a maximum speed of in calm waters. The ships carried enough coal for one day's steaming.
Armament
Ceará had a single 120-pounder Whitworthrifled muzzle loader in her gun turret. The gun had a maximum range of about. The shell of the 120-pounder gun weighed while the gun itself weighed. Most unusually the guns' Brazilian-designed iron carriage was designed to pivot vertically at the muzzle; this was done to minimize the size of the gunport through which splinters and shells could enter.
Armor
The hull of the Pará-class ships was made from three layers of wood that alternated in orientation. It was thick and was capped with a layer of peroba hardwood. The ships had a complete wrought iron waterline belt, high. It had a maximum thickness of 102 millimetres amidships, decreasing to and at the ship's ends. The curved deck was armored with of wrought iron. The gun turret was shaped like a rectangle with rounded corners. It was built much like the hull, but the front of the turret was protected by of armor, the sides by 102 millimetres and the rear by 76 millimetres. Its roof and the exposed portions of the platform it rested upon were protected by 12.7 millimetres of armor. The armored pilothouse was positioned ahead of the turret.
Service
Ceará was laid down at the Arsenal de Marinha da Côrte in Rio de Janeiro on 8 December 1866, during the Paraguayan War, which saw Argentina and Brazil allied against Paraguay. She was launched on 22 March1868 and commissioned the following month. The monitor arrived in Paraguay in May 1868. On 31 August she bombarded enemy positions on the Tebicuary River to provide cover for advancing troops. The ship destroyed Paraguayan defenses on the Manduvirá River on 18 April 1869. Ceará, together with her sister ships and, broke through the Paraguayan defenses at Guaraio on 29 April and drove off the defenders. After the war she was assigned to the Mato Grosso Flotilla and was scrapped in 1884.
