The ship had an
overall length of , a
beam of and a
draught of . She was powered by 2 triple expansion reciprocating steam engines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of and gave a maximum design speed of . During the trials the contract speed was exceeded, and the vessel was clocked at . Steam for the turbines was provided by two double-ended
Yarrow boilers.
Rio Grande do Norte carried a maximum of of
coal that gave her a range of approximately at . The ship mounted two BL 4 inch naval gun Mk VIII| guns in single mounts. In addition, four
47 mm (3pdr) cannons in single mounts were deployed at the time of launching. == References ==