Argentina-Chile Naval Race: 1890-1905 (2/13)

Naval Race between Argentina and Chile, 1890-1905

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What was happening on the other side of the Cordillera?

As in all countries that wanted to emancipate themselves from Spanish power, at the beginning of the War of Independence, Chile did not have any warships, much less suitable crews for them. Given the above, the territorial defense plan did not involve a political policy at all. naval but to defeat the Spanish army on land 1.

Viceroy Abascal highlighted the Warren Frigates in Valparaíso, with the purpose of blocking the port, in order to boycott the insurgents' trade. It should be noted that Chile had declared free trade in its ports for all ships in the world.

José Miguel Carrera wrote to Francisco de La Lastra (governor of Valparaíso), with the aim of putting some ships under arms and lifting the blockade. This request, at the cost of efforts (popular spending, credits, etc.), managed to equip two named ships. like Perla and Potrillo 2, part of the weapons used were from a Portuguese merchant ship, which were seized by the government of Chile 3.

It was thought that once the blockade was broken, the “Chilean Fleet” could join the Argentine corsairs and harass Callao, but this did not happen, once both ships set sail, the Perla joined the Warren and both They attack Potrillo, thus ending the attempts to provide Chile with a squadron, during the Patria Vieja, the above happened on May 2, 1813.

Towards 1813 the United States and England were at war, given the above, the United States sent the frigate Essex to the South Pacific with the mission of harassing the English whalers that operated in this water. Thanks to this, Chile's trade benefited due to that the Essex's prizes were traded in Valparaíso, a situation that ended a year later when the Essex was captured by an English fleet 4.

Thanks to the Argentine privateers, the transportation of cargo from the Viceroyalty of Peru to Chile suffered setbacks, which hindered the military deployments of the Governor of Chile Marco Del Pont. In this way, added to Rodríguez's actions on land, it was possible for the Spanish army to It will be dispersed throughout the territory, facilitating the task of crossing the Andes to San Martín 5.

After the triumph of the Andes Army in Chacabuco, thanks to a stroke of audacity, the then Argentine Ensign Isidoro Suárez, captured the Spanish brig Águila 6 in Valparaíso, being incorporated as the first unit into the nascent Chilean navy, and was armed with 16 cannons and placed in the hands of the Irishman Raimundo Morris rescued the patriotic prisoners imprisoned on Juan Fernández Island. On January 16, 1818, O'Higgins and Minister Zenteno promulgated the decree allowing the promotion of roe deer patents 7.

After the patriotic triumph in the battle of Chacabuco, San Martín as commander in chief of the army of the Andes and O'Higgins as supreme director of Chile together with his minister of war and navy José Ignacio Zenteno dedicated themselves to the task of creating an navy With the objective of disputing the sea with the Spanish crown, for this purpose emissaries were sent abroad and ships and other equipment were acquired. The ships acquired were the Navío San Martín (64 guns), Frigate Lautaro (46 guns), Corvette Chacabuco ( 20 guns), Brigantín Araucano (16 guns), with these ships the capture of the frigate María Isabel and the other transports was carried out, this happened on October 28, 1818 8.

At the end of 1818, Thomas A. Cochrane, a Scot, arrived in Valparaíso to take charge of the nascent squadron. I will not detail the naval actions of this period given its length and because it is not relevant in this part of the forum.

The Chilean squadron then consisted of nine warships; but on August 10, the brig Pueyrredón was dispatched in charge of Captain Don Guillermo Prunier to take the most complicated individuals in the April conspiracy to the coast of New Granada, and the corvette Chacabuco was destined to remain in Valparaíso, under the command of Captain Juan José Tortel. The ships that were on the expedition were the following 9:

Almirante O 'Higgins Frigate

Cannons: 50
Crew: 516
Commander: Tomás Crosby

San Martín Ship

Cannons: 64
Crew: 492
Commander: Guillermo Wilkinson

Frigate Lautaro

Cannons: 50
Crew: 353
Commander: Martín Jorge Guise

Independencia Corvette

Cannons: 28
Crew: 256
Commander: Roberto Forster

Araucano Brigantine

Cannons: 16
Crew: 106
Commander: Tomás Carter

Brig Galvarino

Cannons: 18
Crew: 114
Commander: Juan Spry

Schooner Moctezuma

Cannons: 7
Crew: 87
Commander: Juan Esmonds

 
Cochrane left Chile in January 1823 and the ships of the squadron were demobilized from service. To face the Chiloé campaigns he found it necessary to hastily arm the ships and when Chiloé fell into the hands of Chile (beginning of 1826, last Spanish redoubt in America), the entire squadron was declared disarmed.

Given the poverty of the national treasury, in April 1826, the frigate María Isabel Maria Isabel (O'Higgins) and the corvettes Independencia and Chacabuco were put up for sale, being acquired by Argentina due to the urgency of the war they were fighting with Brazil over the Banda Oriental (Cisplatina), only the Chacabuco arrived in Buenos Aires but its condition was poor, the others sank in Talcahuano (Independencia), and Cape Horn (Maria Isabel) 10.

It should be noted that given the tremendous economic efforts for Chile to face the liberation expedition of Peru, the maintenance of the ships was deficient and the sailors were unpaid. By mid-1826, the squadron was disarmed and the naval school closed, leaving only the brig Aquiles in operational status.

The navy would only emerge again in 1836 before the war against the Peru-Bolivian confederation (1836-1839), when it began it only had the Brig Aquiles and the Schooner Colo Colo, then this fleet was increased by 5 more ships, given the capture of the boat Santa Cruz, the brig Arequipeño and the schooner Peruviana in Callao, plus the capture of General Freire of the frigate Monteagudo, brig Orbegoso 11.

Once the conflict was over, the squad again declared disarmament, maintaining only a few units for the needs of the service. In 1843, President General Manuel Bulnes Prieto (Who directed the 1838 campaign against the Peru-Bolivia confederation), ordered Captain Juan Guillermos to took possession of the Strait of Magellan, at that time Juan Guillermos was maritime governor of Chiloé, in the city of Ancud, he dedicated himself to the construction of a schooner (which would be named Ancud), to carry out the requested undertaking.

It is not the topic of the present to address the border disputes between Chile and Argentina but, as the topic indicates, to address the arms race between Chile and Argentina between the 19th century until the May Pacts, the above is only due to a very brief historical review of the navies of both countries.

Between the years 1840 and 1863, the Chilean navy experienced a great decline, a powerful ship was commissioned from France but it was built with poor materials so its useful life was short (Chile Frigate).

During that period there were not enough funds to order the construction of steamships. Given the lack, the decision was made to build them in Chile precisely in the Constitución and Valparaíso shipyards. In 1852, the corvette Esmeralda was commissioned in England (which was sunk in the Naval Battle). of Iquique in 1879), in this way at the beginning of the war with Spain (1864-1866), Chile only had the Esmeralda and the Vapor Maipú (strictly speaking, only the Esmeralda was a warship), in the face of this contingency and after the Chinchas Islands were taken in 1863, it was decided to commission the acquisition of the corvettes Chacabuco and O'Higgins, in 1865 the schooner Covadonga was captured and in 1866 two more corvettes were acquired (Abtao and Pampero), only the first of them arriving. , and Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna acquires in the United States 4 wheeled steamers called Poncas (Ñuble), Isabella (Concepción), Shaw Nork (Arauco) and Cheroke (Ancud) all in poor condition 12, this due to the failure of the negotiations for the acquisition of Dundemberg 13.

With the exception of the Abtao, none of these ships arrived for the war. At the end of the war, Chile had 9 naval units, viz.

Corvettes: Esmeralda, Abtao, Chacabuco and O`Higgins (these arrived in 1868).
Schooner: Virgin of Covadonga.
Steamers: Ñuble, Concepción, Arauco and Ancud.

The 4 steamers were lost in accidents or storms, in which their poor integrity was the fundamental cause.

So far I leave this brief review of the navy since its creation. From here on, a process of arms race between the republics of Chile and Argentina begins slowly but steadily, which would end momentarily with the pacts of May 1902.

Sources

1. El poder Naval y la Independencia de Chile, Donald E. Worcester, Editorial Francisco de Aguirre, 1971, Argentina, pagina 3. 
2. Breve Historia Naval de Chile, Carlos López Urrutia, Editorial Francisco de Aguirre, 1976, Argentina, pagina 27. 
3. Donald E. Worcester, obra citada, página 8 
4. Donald E. Worcester, obra citada, página 14 
5. Obras citadas de López Urrutia y Worcester y pagina web de la armada de Chile  
6. Biografías Argentina y Sudamericanas, Capitán de Fragata Jacinto R. Yaben, Editorial Metrópolis, talleres Gráficos Contreras, Argentina pagina 767. 
7. El libertador Bernardo O`Higgins Riquelme, editorial Lord Cochrane, Santiago, paginas 137-138
8. Breve Historia Naval de Chile, Carlos López Urrutia, Editorial Francisco de Aguirre, 1976, Argentina, paginas 36-38. 
9. Tomado textual del Tomo XII, Historia General de Chile, Diego Barros Arana, Editorial Universitaria – Centro de Estudios Diego Barros Arana, Santiago 2005, Página 456, segunda edición. 
10. La Armada de Chile: Desde la Alborada al Sesquicentenario (1813-1968), Rodrigo Fuenzalida Bade. Santiago, Chile: 1978, Empresa Periodística Aquí Está, Tomo II página 364-365. 
11. La Armada de Chile: Desde la Alborada al Sesquicentenario (1813-1968), Rodrigo Fuenzalida Bade. Santiago, Chile: 1978, Empresa Periodística Aquí Está, Tomo II página 399-402. 
12. La Guerra Entre España y las Republicas del Pacífico, Alfonso Cerda Catalán, Editorial Puerto de Palos, Chile páginas 219. 
13. 10 Months of Mission to the United States as Confidential Agent of Chile, Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, Imprenta de la Libertad, Santiago 1867, Volumes I and II, Volume II There is a report that Mackenna presented to the executive as an account of his mission, This report corresponds to Appendix V, in Volume I some details of the negotiations appear.