LAST NAVAL ACTIONS OF THE WAR OF THE PACIFIC

Monitor Atahualpa

After Angamos, Peru’s Navy was left only with the two old Canonicus monitors, the wooden corvettes Union and Pilcomayo, the gunboat Arno and some torpedo boats. None of those ships however could match the strong Chilean battleships, although they gave invaluable support in delivering necessary equipment to the Peruvian garrisons in the South by breaking the dangerous blockades imposed by the Chileans.

For all effects the war at sea had almost concluded. In November 1879, the small corvette Pilcomayo was captured in combat by the battleship Blanco Encalada. On December 22 the torpedo boat Alay suffered the same fate. On June 7, 1880, after the battle of Arica, the monitor Manco Capac was scuttle by her crew. Although there would be no longer naval actions of importance, some particular engagements demonstrated the determination of the Peruvian naval officers to continue the struggle in spite of their disadvantage.

Past midnight, May 25, 1880, the modern Chilean Spar torpedo boats Guacolda and Janaqueo, armed each with two torpedo tubes, one small gun and one machinegun, discovered three Peruvian gunboats on their way to Callao and tried to stop them. The fast Janaqueo, under Lieutenant Manuel Señoret, approached the Independencia, under Lieutenant Jose Galvez -who was the son of the hero of the 1866 “2 de Mayo” combat- and fired a torpedo that almost destroyed the Peruvian boat and killed eight of her crew of thirteen. Nevertheless, Galvez injured as he was, charged with his crippled ship against the opponent and by hand and under heavy fire, with the help of another brave officer, Manuel Ugarte y Moscoso, he threw a 50-kilogram torpedo inside the Janaqueo. The explosion killed two enemy sailors and destroyed their boat. The Chileans were so impressed by Galvez courage, that few hours after he was taken prisoner to the battleship Blanco Encalada, he was returned to the Peruvian authorities in Callao. Ugarte y Moscoso died in the action.

Later, on December 6 of that year, a second torpedo-boat combat took place. The Peruvian gunboat Arno, armed with two guns, and the torpedo boats Capitania, Resguardo, Urcos and Republica, fought against the Chilean torpedo boats Fresia, Guacolda, Colo Colo and Tucapel, armed each with two torpedoes and one Hotchkiss machinegun. As a result of the combat, the gunboat Arno sunk the 25-ton torpedo boat Fresia, under command of Lieutenant Alvaro Bianchi.

The Peruvians also sink the 1,657-ton steamer Loa, one of the ships that participated in the final hunt of the Huascar. The ship was destroyed off Callao on July 3, 1880, by an explosive charge hidden by the Peruvians inside a boat, which Loa’s Commander, Juan Peña, imprudently order to pick up at sea. The commander and 119 crewmen died during the terrible explosion.

On September 13th, 1880, off the coasts of Chancay, North of Lima, the old schooner Virgen de Covadonga, which also fought against Huascar in Angamos, suffered identical fate that the Loa. Her commander, Pablo Ferrari, imprudently decided to hoist up what was supposed to be a harmless small vessel. The boat was loaded with explosives. The terrible explosion sent the schooner to the bottom of the sea in a matter of minutes. From her crew of 109 men, 32, including the Captain, died during the explosion, while 29 escaped in boats and 48 become prisoners of war of the Peruvian army

On January 3, 1881, however, the Chilean corvette O´Higgins would sink the torpedo boat Republica after she tried to execute a night raid against the Chilean ironclads off Callao.

Few days later, after the battle for Lima, to avoid the fleet falling into enemy hands, the Government ordered to destroy the remaining ships of the armada: The corvette Union, the monitor Atahualpa, the gunboat Arno, the torpedo boats, the submarine and all the transports.

With those actions, the Peruvian Navy would cease to exist temporarily, until her rebirth took place at the end of the decade, with the arrival of the gunboat Lima.

Battle of Angamos

On October 8, 1879, Admiral Miguel Grau's luck ran out when he skirmished with two Chilean flotillas off Punta Angamos. The Huáscar was captured after the heroic admiral was killed, although the Unión escaped.

The Naval Battle of Angamos (October 8, 1879) was an important struggle in the War of the Pacific, where the Peruvian ironclad Huáscar was surrounded and captured by the Chilean Navy. The captain of the ironclad, Peruvian Admiral Miguel Grau, was killed in the combat. After this battle, the Peruvian Navy was unable to prevent the invasion of its territory. The seas were cleared for the invasion of Peru and Bolivia.

Background

After the Naval Battle of Iquique, the Peruvian ironclad Huáscar made several incursions challenging the Chilean naval dominion, attacking ports along its entire coast and capturing transports.

This sole ship was preventing Chile from invading Bolivian and Peruvian territory, and did so successfully for nearly five months. No attempt to disembark troops could be made, because the Huáscar was preventing the entire Chilean Navy from taking control of the sea.

Because Chile's plan was to achieve naval supremacy, prior to invading Bolivian and/or Peruvian territory, the Huáscar had to be eliminated along with Admiral Grau.

Several efforts were made in order to capture or sink Huáscar, but none succeeded. Finally, nearly six months after the naval combat of Iquique, the opportunity came for the Chilean Navy.

The Struggle

Six Chilean ships -- the Blanco Encalada and Cochrane casemate battleships among them -- were directed with the sole purpose of sinking or capturing the Peruvian vessel. An ambush had been set up, carefully planned by dividing the Fleet in two: one near the Bolivian coast and the other part waiting for instructions.

On October 8, 1879, near Punta de Angamos, the first part of the fleet, led by the Cochrane spotted the Huáscar and the corvette Unión. After ordering the Unión to look for a safe port, Admiral Grau prepared his ship for battle.

The ironclad made the first shot at a distance of nearly 2,000 meters. None were capable of damaging the Cochrane. From the same distance Cochrane fired its first discharge of the battle. Its second shot hit Huáscar directly in the bridge, killing Admiral Grau and some of his senior officers. Another shot cut an important part of the helm, leaving the ship without control. Several members of the surviving staff (Elías Aguirre, Melitón Carvajal and Diego Garezón) led the ironclad until the end of the battle.

Nearly two hours after the beginning of combat, when it became clear that the ship would be captured, the remaining crew of the ironclad made the decision to scuttle it rather than surrender it. However, the ship was captured nonetheless, and prevented from sinking.

The capture of the Huáscar brought an end to the sea campaign of the War of the Pacific. From this point forward, the Chilean navy was able to use the Huáscar as one of its own ships.


LINK


War of the Pacific 1879 - 1883 Chile vs Bolivia and Peru