View source for Torpedo boats in the War of the Pacific

[[File:Torpederas en Valparaiso Colocolo Janequeo.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Chilean torpedo boats in Valparaíso]]
The introduction of fast [[torpedo boat]]s in the late 19th century was a serious concern to navies of an era that saw a number of innovations in [[naval warfare]], including the first torpedo boats, which carried spar torpedoes, steam propulsion and steel ships.

[[Clements Markham|Clements Robert Markham]], later president of the [[Royal Geographical Society]], an English eyewitness of the [[War of the Pacific]] stated:
:''The value of fast torpedo boats in maintaining a blockade cannot be over-estimated. They are not only the "eyes" but the "legs" of a squadron. Not only are they of use in preventing the escape of any of the enemy's ships, but they also afford protection to their own fleet, giving timely notice of approaching danger at night by a prearranged system of flashing lights, and in the daytime by their great speed. The thoroughness of the blockade of [[Callao]] was undoubtedly due, in a great measure, to the Chilean torpedo boats''.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/warbetweenperu00mark Clements Robert Markham, ''The war between Peru and Chile, 1879–1882'']</ref>

==Chilean torpedo boats==
With the exception of ''Vedette'', all boat names are of [[Mapudungun]] provenance.

=== Torpedo boat ''Vedette'' ===
''Vedette''<ref>Chilean Navy website, [https://web.archive.org/web/20161105190330/http://www.armada.cl/armada/tradicion-e-historia/unidades-historicas/v/vedette-torpedera/2014-02-14/101746.html Vedette], retrieved on 6 April 2006</ref> was built in Yarrow of Poplar (Yard nr. 495) and arrived to Valparaíso on 17 October 1879 on board of ''Belle of Cork''.<ref>''Belle of Cork'' had been also bought by the Chilean government and was renamed ''Angamos''.</ref> She was assembled in Valparaíso and in 1893 she was still listed by the navy. The name seems to be the name of the boat class rather than the proper name of a boat.
* Displacement: 10 t
* Power: 
* Ship armament: 2 × [[Spar torpedo]]
* Length: 
* Speed: 16.5 kn

===Torpedo boats built 1880===
[[File:Torpedera colo Colo 2.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Torpedo boat ''Colo Colo'' on the [[Thames River]] during the [[Sea trial]]]]
Yet 1880 were delivered to Chile two torpedo boats bought from Yarrow of Poplar shipyard., {{ship|Chilean torpedo boat|Colo Colo||2}} (Yard nr. 476) and ''Tucapel'' (Yard nr. 475):
* Displacement: 5 t / 30 t
* Length: 14.63 m
* Beam: 2.44 m
* Power: 60 HP
* Speed: 12.5 kn
* Ship armament: 2 × [[Spar torpedo]] + 2 x Hotchkiss machine gun
They could be stowed in the major ships of the navy and ''Colo Colo'' was brought by [[railway]] to [[Puno]] and then to the [[Titicaca Lake]] (elevation of {{convert|3,812|m|ft}}) in order to impede guerrilla activities in the zone.

===Torpedo boats built 1880–82===
During the [[War of the Pacific]] the [[Chilean Navy]] bought ten torpedo boats from the Yarrow of Poplar shipyard.
* Displacement: 25–30 tons
* Power: 400 HP
* Ship armament: 2 × [[Spar torpedo]] + 1 x Hotchkiss machine gun
* Length: 26–30 m
* Speed: {{convert|19|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Torpedo boats built 1880–1882
|-
! Boat name !! Yard number !! Marine nummer !! 
|-
| ''Janequeo'' (2°) || 452 ||  || Sunk off Callao on 25 May 1880 
|-
| ''Fresia'' ||  || 1 || Sunk off El Callao on 6 Dec. 1880. Refloated. Stripped 1884.
|-
| ''Fresia'' (2°) ||  ||  || 
|-
| ''[[Chilean torpedo boat Guacolda|Guacolda]]'' ||  || 4 || 
|-
| ''Lauca'' || 528 || 5 || 
|-
| ''Glaura'' ||  || 6 || Sold to Japan 1885 for £10,000 
|-
| ''Tegualda'' ||  || 7 || 
|-
| ''Janequeo'' (3°) || 524 || 8 || Stripped after the Civil War of 1891
|-
| ''Guale'' || 509 || 9 || 
|-
| ''Quidora'' ||  || 10 || 
|-
| ''Rucumilla'' || 508 || 11 || Descomm. 1902
|}

== Peruvian torpedo boats ==
[[File:Herreshoff torpedo boat 1879.jpg|thumb|300px|right|A Herreshoff torpedo boat in 1879]]
1879 the Peruvian Government bought three torpedo boats: ''[[Chilean torpedo boat Guacolda|Alay]]'', ''[[:es:Alianza (torpedera)|Alianza]]'' and ''República'' from the [[Herreshoff Manufacturing Company]], Bristol, Rhode Island, United States,<ref>{{Citation| title       =Herreshoff Manufacturing, Bristol RI| publisher       =shipbuildinghistory.com| publication-place       =United States| url       =http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/6yachtsmall/herreshoff.htm| access-date       =7 April 2013| archive-url       =https://web.archive.org/web/20130127223623/http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/6yachtsmall/herreshoff.htm| archive-date       =27 January 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> although R. V. Simpson states that the third boat was never delivered to Perú.<ref name="Simpson2001">{{cite book|author=Richard V. Simpson|title=Building the Mosquito Fleet: The U. S. Navy's First Torpedo Boats|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p1k6ejrEZlkC|access-date=8 April 2013|date=1 November 2001|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-0-7385-0508-4}}</ref>

''República'' and ''Alianza'' arrived in Perú in August and September 1879. Both boats were [[Scuttling|scuttled]] ''Alianza'' aftermath the [[Battle of Arica]] in June 1880 and [[Scuttling of the Peruvian fleet in El Callao|''República'']] in January 1881 in the [[Blockade of Callao]], to prevent their capture by the Chilean forces.

''Alay'' was secretly transported by ship to [[Colon, Panama]] in the Caribbean Sea. From Colon she was transported by rail to [[Panama City]], on the Pacific Ocean. On 2 December ''Alay'' sailed, bound for Perú but on 24 December 1879, the Chilean gunned transport ''Amazonas'' captured the boat in the [[Ecuador]]ian port Ballenita. In Chile she was renamed ''Guacolda'' and commissioned into the [[Chilean navy]] and fought in the [[Blockade of Callao]] between April of 1880 and January of 1881. It sank on April 4, 1881 while being towed off [[Chincha Islands]]

[[File:Peruvian torpedo boats.jpg|600px]]
* Displacement:<ref>All Guacolda data from [http://ericknavas.blogspot.de/search/label/Alianza Blog]</ref> 6 t
* Power: 1 máquina a vapor alternativa de dos cilindros
* Ship armament: 2 [[Spar torpedo]] + 1 x Hotchkiss 37&nbsp;mm machine gun
* Length: {{convert|18|m|ft}}
* Speed: {{convert|16.5|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}

==See also==
* [[List of decommissioned ships of the Chilean Navy]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Citation
 |author           = Germán Bravo Valdivieso
 |publication-date = 28 March 2006
 |title            = Buques de la Armada construidos en Chile
 |language         = es
 |url              = http://www.historianaval.cl/publico/publicacion_archivo/publicaciones/7_BUQUES%20DE%20LA%20ARMADA%20CONSTRUIDOS%20EN%20CHILE_20081111.pdf
 |access-date       = 6 April 2013
 |archive-url       = https://web.archive.org/web/20110819221258/http://www.historianaval.cl/publico/publicacion_archivo/publicaciones/7_BUQUES%20DE%20LA%20ARMADA%20CONSTRUIDOS%20EN%20CHILE_20081111.pdf
 |archive-date      = 2011-08-19
 |url-status=dead
}}
* {{Citation
 |last              = Scientific American
 |date              = February 12, 1881
 |title             = Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in the 1800s
 |publisher         = Scientific American
 |url               = http://www.machine-history.com/Herreshoff%20Manufacturing%20Company%201800s
 |access-date        = 7 April 2013
 |archive-url        = https://web.archive.org/web/20120325190338/http://www.machine-history.com/Herreshoff%20Manufacturing%20Company%201800s
 |archive-date       = 25 March 2012
 |url-status=dead
}}
* {{Cite journal
 | last        = Thomas Cavieres
 | first       = Federico 
 | date        = 1989 
 | title       = Torpederas de vapor de la Armada de Chile
 | location    = Viña del Mar, Chile
 | url         = https://revistamarina.cl/revistas/1989/4/fthomasc.pdf
 | language    = es
 | journal     = [[Revista de Marina]]
 | volume      = 106
 | issue       = 791
}}
* {{Cite book
 | title       = Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905
 | editor      = Gardiner, Robert
 | location    = London, UK
 | publisher   = Conway Maritime Press
 | year        = 1979
 | isbn        = 0-85177-133-5
}}

{{War of the Pacific}}
{{Chilean torpedo boats}}

[[Category:Torpedo boats of the Chilean Navy]]
[[Category:Ships of the War of the Pacific]]