Discover

(Redirected from Naval Battle of Angamos)

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.

Contents

Background

The Struggle

References

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.

References

# Farcau, Bruce W. (Sep 30, 2000). ''The Ten Cents War: Chile, Peru, and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific, 1879-1884'', ISBN 0-275-96925-8
# Sondhaus, Lawrence (May 4, 2004). ''Navies in Modern World History'', ISBN 1-86189-202-0