The Uruguayan navy, however, dates its origin from General Artigas 's letter of marque on 15 November , which authorized his forces to plunder Portuguese shipping wherever they found it. Following independence , a navy was established under Colonel Pablo Zufriategui , a veteran of Artigas's campaigns and the 33 Easterners. General Rivera was the first ship of the Navy to pass the Strait of Magellan. Just prior to World War One, President Williman devoted considerable effort and expense to modernizing the navy, viewing it as demanded for Uruguay's "sovereignty and honor.
The torpedo gunboat Uruguay was constructed to order in Germany and commissioned August Also in , the government acquired the Cibils-Jackson shipyard, renaming it the National Dock.
These advances were then sabotaged by funding cutbacks throughout the s that left the navy poorly maintained. The first planes, however, did not arrive until The next year, three patrol boats ordered from Cantieri Navali Riuniti in Genoa arrived. Although Uruguay was officially neutral, her pro-British sentiment allowed the Royal Navy to carry out a highly successful disinformation campaign that ended in the German scuttling of the ship.
Although Uruguay did not officially join the Allies until 15 February , it was involved in assisting the convoy effort. This involved the confiscation of two Italian and two Occupied Danish freighters in Montevideo, which were manned by the Navy and rechristened Montevideo , Maldonado , Rocha and Colonia.
Montevideo was incidentally sunk by the Italian submarine Enrico Tazzoli in March , [7] which prompted Uruguay to seize the German freighter Tacoma. In August , Maldonado was sunk after its commander was taken prisoner by the German submarine U Following World War II, the beginning of the Cold War saw the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance signed in Rio de Janeiro, which provided for "Hemispheric defense" and required signatory states to work to improve and coordinate their naval forces.
