Naval Battle of Angamos

Battle of Angamos

Naval Battle of Angamos

Date	8 October 1879
Location	Near Mejillones, Antofagasta in Bolivia (present day Chile).
Result	Decisive Chilean victory

Belligerents

Chile

Peru

Commanders and leaders

Juan José Latorre

Galvarino Riveros

Miguel Grau †

Strength

2 armored frigates
2 corvettes
2 transports

1 monitor
1 corvette

Casualties and losses

1 dead
9 wounded

31 dead
4 missing
162 captured
1 ironclad captured

The Battle of Angamos (Spanish: Combate de Angamos) was a naval encounter of the War of the Pacific fought between the navies of Chile and Perú at Punta Angamos, on 8 October 1879. The battle was the culminant point of a naval campaign that lasted about five months, as the Chilean Navy steamed with the sole mission of eliminating its Peruvian counterpart. In the struggle, two armored frigates, led by Commodore Galvarino Riveros and Navy Captain Juan José Latorre battered and later captured the Peruvian monitor Huáscar, under Rear Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario.

After the loss of the frigate Independencia at Punta Gruesa, Grau sought to challenge the outnumbering Chilean fleet adopting a harassing strategy, focused in inflicting as much damage as possible while avoiding a full scale engagement. As Grau evolved along the Pacific coast, he was chased by Admiral John Williams Rebolledo, who had been ordered to catch Grau no matter what. His failure cost him his commission, and was replaced by Riveros.

With a different strategy, Riveros managed to encircle Grau at Punta Angamos, about 80 kilometers north of Antofagasta. Falling in a trap set by Riveros and Latorre, Grau was forced to present battle after ordering the corvette Unión to escape to Perú.

Latorre, aboard Almirante Cochrane, engaged first. Taking advantage of the powerful Armstrong-type batteries, Latorre shelled Huáscar for almost two hours, and Grau was killed in action. However, his flagship continued the fight while Riveros engaged her with the Blanco Encalada as well. After being battered for almost three hours, the Huáscar, unable to sustain combat, was boarded and captured and the battle ended.

The result was a complete success for the Chilean Navy, and secured its dominant position for the rest of the war. It allowed to prepare the invasion of the Tarapacá department, carried out on early November.

Chilean Navy dominance off the Pacific coast contributed significantly to success in the following land campaigns across the Atacama Desert that ended with Lima's fall on January 1881.

The Huáscar was repaired and served under the Chilean flag until its decommission, and now sits as a floating museum in the port of Talcahuano.

After the naval battle of Iquique of 21 May, the Peruvian fleet lost the armored frigate Independencia to a wooden schooner, Covadonga. This obliged Rear Admiral Miguel Grau to renounce to attack and to adopt a harassing strategy, avoiding by all means a direct encounter with the bulk of the Chilean navy.

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Wikipedia