Battle of Iquique
From Freepedia
| Battle of Iquique | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Image:Iquique.jpg | |||
| Conflict: War of the Pacific | |||
| Date: May 21, 1879 | |||
| Place: near Iquique, Peru (present day Chile) | |||
| Outcome: Indecisive | |||
| Combatants | |||
| Chile | Peru | ||
| Commanders | |||
| Arturo Prat † | Miguel Grau Seminario | ||
| Strength | |||
| 1 corvette 1 schooner | 1 armoured frigate 1 armoured monitor | ||
| Casualties | |||
| 139 dead at least 3 wounded 1 corvette lost | 19 dead 12 wounded 1 armoured frigate lost | ||
| |||
The Battle of Iquique took place on May 21, 1879 during the War of the Pacific between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru. This is one of the battles of the Sea Campaign.
Contents |
Context
During the first year of the war, Chilean war efforts were focused on destroying the Peruvian Navy. This, in order to clear the seas for the Chilean Navy, whose duty would be to help the army to conquer Bolivian and Peruvian territories with troop landings and port blockades.
During May 1879, the main ships of the Chilean Navy were sent towards the Peruvian port of Callao in order to destroy its navy, while two old, wooden ships -the corvette Esmeralda and the schooner Covadonga, commanded by Capt. Arturo Prat and Capt. Carlos Condell respectively - were left blockading the Peruvian port of Iquique.
However, as the Chilean Navy steamed north towards Callao, two ironclad ships of the Peruvian Navy steamed south from Callao, unseen. These ships were the monitor Huáscar and the armoured frigate Independencia, commanded by Admiral Miguel Grau and Capt. Juan Moore.
The Battle of Iquique
On the morning of May 21, 1879, the watchtower of Esmeralda spotted two ships coming from the north. These were the Peruvian Independencia and Huáscar.
Rumours had circulated in Iquique of stationary torpedoes (tethered mines) being deployed around the blockading Chilean ships. Outgunned, Captain Prat may have wanted to take advantage of this by acting the part, staying close to the port itself and stationary. Having received these reports from the port authorities, Captain Grau was faced with the difficult prospect of firing into the Chilean ships, possibly inflicting casualties and damage among Peruvian population and infrastructure right behind, or waiting while fired at by the Chileans. He decided to wait.
Coastal guns at Iquique solved the standoff by firing on the Chilean vessels. Attempting to escape, Covadonga headed south but Esmeralda experienced engine problems. By this time, the battle was inevitable: while Huáscar engaged Esmeralda, Independencia pursued Covadonga south.
It was now clear that no mines were in the water, so ironclad Huáscar maneuvered to ram wooden Esmeralda several times with its armoured bow. Esmeralda's captain saw this as an opportunity to board the Peruvian ship and overpower its crew in hand-to-hand combat -the plan not without merit as his ship was definitely no match for the monitor otherwise.
The opportunity came with the first hit, but the plan did not work. Captain Prat's yell "Al abordaje muchachos!" ("Let's board, boys!") was answered by a single sailor; both were killed by gunfire on the enemy ship's deck. The second collision saw a better organized attempt with about 11 sailors led by 1st. Lt. Ignacio Serrano, which suffered a similar fate. Battered by heavy fire and Huáscar's ram, Esmeralda sank in Iquique Bay after the third collision.
135 Chilean sailors perished, and 62 were rescued on order of the Huáscar's captain; 1 Peruvian sailor was killed and 7 wounded.
Meanwhile, Covadonga tried to escape from Independencia.
The Battle of Punta Gruesa
This may be labelled as the second part of Battle of Iquique, although it is described in many sources as a separate battle.
Heading shouth, Capt. Condell of Covadonga realized that the quicker but heavier Independencia could not clear shallow water as well as his own schooner would. He kept close to the coast with Independencia in pursuit, while both ships traded fire.
Independencia's lack of trained gunners, and Covadonga's accurate sniper fire on gunners and helmsmen, prolonged the chase for over three hours wihtout resolution. Capt. Moore of Independencia decided to take a riskier approach and ram the Chilean ship. Constantly sounding for depth, this was attempted two times, only to call the attack off when approaching the shallows. Close to Punta Gruesa, Covadonga scraped, but barely cleared an underwater reef. Independencia, attempting to ram for a third time, struck the obstacle, immediately took water and settled listing to starboard. Covadonga then turned around and opened fire, while Independencia's crew fired back[1] and tried to set her free.
As Capt. Moore realized his ship was lost he ordered its destruction, but the magazine was already flooded and it could not be blown up. Covadonga kept firing but retreated as Huáscar was seen coming from the north. Huáscar's commander checked on Independencia and decided to pursue after seeing she was immobilized, but this cost precious time and Covadonaga steamed south as fast as possible. Capt. Grau realized that Huáscar would not catch up on the 10 mile head start before dusk, gave up the chase and returned to assist Independencia and salvage her guns; the crew (those aboard and on the beach) was rescued and the ship set on fire.
Peru had 18 crew killed and 5 wounded; 4 Chilean crewmembers were killed and 3 wounded[2].
The twin battles of Iquique and Punta Gruesa were a Peruvian tactical victory: the blockade on Iquique was lifted and Chile left the area. However, this proved to be strategically costly: the biggest, fastest and one of the most powerful warships in the Peruvian Navy was lost, while Chile lost one of its oldest wooden ships.
This left Huáscar alone to fight the Chilean Navy.
References
- ^ Farcau, Bruce W. (Sep 30, 2000). The Ten Cents War: Chile, Peru, and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific, 1879-1884 p.74. Google Print. ISBN 0275969258 (accessed September 1, 2005). Also available in print from Praeger/Greenwood.
- ^ Sondhaus, Lawrence (May 4, 2004). Navies in Modern World History p.159. Google Print. ISBN 1861892020 (accessed September 1, 2005). Also available in print from Reaktion Books.
