The delivery of the in 1883 and the acquisition of other armored warships by Brazil, Argentina, and Chile shortly afterward alarmed the United States government, as the Brazilian Navy was now the most powerful in the Western Hemisphere. The United States Navy now felt capable only of defending its own ports. The Chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee, Congressman Hilary A. Herbert characterized the situation thus: "if all this old navy of ours were drawn up in battle array in mid-ocean and confronted by the "Riachuelo" it is doubtful whether a single vessel bearing the American flag would get into port."