Juan José Latorre

Juan José Latorre Benavente (Santiago; March 24, 1846 – July 9, 1912) Chilean Vice Admiral, one of the principal actors of the War of the Pacific, and hero of the Battle of Angamos.

Son of Elías Latorre and of Nicomedia Benavente, the oldest of eight brothers. After the early death of his father, three of his younger brothers were taken by the paternal family in Peru, where they were raised. Later on, one of the brothers participated also in the War of the Pacific, but on the Peruvian side.

At the age of nine, in 1855, he won a scholarship to the Naval Academy. Appointed midshipman on July 15, 1861. He served on the Esmeralda during the Chincha Islands War and participated in the Battle of Papudo, where the Spanish schooner Covadonga was captured, and in the Battle of Abtao.

On February 12, 1873 was promoted to first lieutenant, and given command of the Toltén first, and the Magallanes later. It was in this later ship that he was going to make his name as one of the ablest naval commanders of the coming war. During his patrols of the extreme southern region of Chile, he was involved in a diplomatic incident with Argentina and Britain, when he captured several foreign ships that were operating in the Chilean area with an Argentinian licence, chief among them the Jeanne Amelie and the Devonshire. He was also faced with the mutiny of the city of Punta Arenas, where he was able to rescue his old friend, governor Diego Dublé Almeida.

While in command of the Magallanes, he was the first to come face to face with the Peruvian navy at the Battle of Chipana. On April 12, 1879, he crossed paths with the Peruvian warships Unión and Pilcomayo that tried to capture his vessel. Outgunned, Latorre decided to escape. During the ensuing pursuit, he noticed that the speed of the two Peruvian ships was greatly different, and that the Pilcomayo was falling considerably behind.

Once the Peruvian Unión was alone, he turned his ship around, and opened fire. The battle thus ensued. The Peruvian aim was very poor, due to their lack of training, but the Chilean aim was only marginally better. At one point, the Unión started spewing white smoke from one of its sides. This led the Peruvian captain to think his ship had been seriously hit, and gave up the pursuit, allowing the weaker Magallanes to escape unharmed. In fact the whole incident was caused by the overheating of one of the boilers.

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