Sao Paulo was supposed to be reconstructed on the same lines as her sistership (i.e. conversion to oil burning and improvements to the electrical system etc) but a survey of her condition revealed that her hull and machinery were in too poor a condition to warrant the expenditure required to bring her up to standard and she spent the entire war laid up in Rio de Janeiro. Sold to be broken up for scrap in 1951.
Sunk while under tow on 6 November 1951.