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''Covadonga'' at berth in Valparaiso, Chile.
Career Spain
Built at:	Cádiz, Spain
Ordered:	June 10, 1857
Launched:	November 28, 1859
Commissioned:	8 October, 1858
Fate:	Captured by Chile at Battle of Papudo during the Chincha Islands War, November 26, 1865.
Career Chile
Captured:	November 26, 1865
Commissioned:	December 4, 1865
Fate:	Sunk by a mine in Chancay, Peru during the War of the Pacific, September 13, 1880
General Characteristics
Displacement:	630 tons
Length:	107 ft (48.5 m)
Beam:
Draft:
Propulsion:	1 x steam engine, 160 hp (120 kW) single screw Brigantine sail rigging
Fuel:	Coal
Speed:	7 knots (13 km/h)
Complement:
Armament: (original)	2 x revolving 200-mm (70 pdr) guns at the sides 1 x revolving 160-mm gun at the prow
Armour:	None

Schooner 'Virgen de Covadonga' (1859). A historical ship that participated in the Chincha Islands War and the War of the Pacific, under Spanish and Chilean flags.

Contents

Construction

Chincha Islands War service

War of the Pacific service

Fate

External links

Construction

It was ordered by Royal Order of June 10, 1857. Its keel was laid at the Arsenal de la Carrara in Cádiz, Spain, on February 13, 1858. She was launched on November 28, 1859.
The ''Covadonga'' was a wooden ship fitted with a steam propulsion, commissioned by Royal Command of October 8, 1858 at a total cost of 5 million ''Reales de Vellón''. Its first commander was Lieutenant Evaristo Casariego y García. It was originally destined as a mail boat between Manila and Hong Kong, with its berth at the Naval Base of Manila, in the Philippine Islands.
The ship was named after the Battle of Covadonga - a highly symbolic event in Spanish history, being considered the beginning of the Reconquista.

Chincha Islands War service

During the Chincha Islands War, the ''Covadonga'' served as an auxiliary ship to the Spanish fleet. It was captured by the Chilean corvette ''Esmeralda'' under the command of captain Juan Williams Rebolledo, during the Naval Battle of Papudo, on November 26, 1865. Its capture caused the suicide of Spanish Admiral Juan Manuel Pareja.
The ''Covadonga'' was commissioned into the Chilean navy on December 4, 1865, keeping its original name. During this war, it also participated at the Naval Battle of Abtao.

War of the Pacific service

During the War of the Pacific, the ''Covadonga'' together with the ''Esmeralda'', as the oldest and slowest ships of the Chilean navy, were left behind to blockade the port of Iquique. There they participated in the most important naval battles of the war.
The ''Esmeralda'' faced the Huascar at the Naval Battle of Iquique, while the ''Covadonga'' defeated the inmensely superior ''Independencia'' at the Naval Battle of Punta Gruesa, both on May 21, 1879.

Fate

On September 13, 1880, while enforcing a blockade in the port of Chancay, Peru, the sailors of the ''Covadonga'' saw a beautiful boat being carried unmanned by the currents and loaded with fresh fruits and produce. While trying to lift it, it exploded, being a floating mine. The ship sunk in less than 10 minutes.
In the disaster, out of the 109 men of the crew, the commander Captain Pablo Ferrari and 32 sailors died, while 29 were rescued by the gun-boat Pilcomayo, and 48 were captured by the Peruvians. Among the dead was petty officer Constantino Micalvi, a survivor from the Naval Battle of Iquique.

External links

★ Official description from the Chilean Navy

★ Historical Text Archive, Chile: A Brief Naval History