Alright I wonder how many of you know exactly where the name for the Peruvian warship Huáscar came from. Well, I have the answer for you. I know our friends from Peru know where it came from and soon you will too.

Unlike many of the ships I have done thus far there has only been one ship named Huáscar. We shall take a short look at her then we will learn about her namesake. She was ordered in 1864 by Peru for use in her war with Spain. She was build by the Laird Brothers shipyard. The Lairds were known for building ships of this nature at the time.

Huáscar was a small armored turret ship closely related to a monitor type ship made here in the US. She was launched in October 1865 and left for Peru in January 1866. Along the way she was laid up in Brest France for a month. She collided with the ironclad Independencia on 28 February. Along the way neutral ports refused to allow her access. She spent another month in Rio for repairs then had to deal crew problems on the Independencia. She captured and sank Spanish brigantine Manuel before arriving him Chile. She arrived too late for action in the war.

During the Peruvian Civil war she was seized by rebels and used against Government forces. Rebels used her to cause hate and discontent with merchant shipping. Actions against any merchant ship that came along drew the British into the conflict. On May 29, 1877 she fought a battle against two British warships, HMS Shaw and HMS Amethyst. During the battle the first recorded use in anger of the new self propelled torpedo. After one month in the hands of the rebels she was returned to government control. The Battle against the British caused Huáscar to gained fame in Peru, and would later reach legendary status.

1879 saw the former allies Peru and Chile at war. The Chilean Navy had one purpose, hunt down and either sink or capture Huascar. She spent the opening months of the war harassing shipping and attacking ports. The effort to capture her delayed any land action by 6 months. During the middle of 1879 she took part in the following actions Damaged ports of Cobija, Tocopilla, Patillos and Mejillones, Huanillos, Punta de Lobo, Chañaral, Huasco, Caldera, Coquimbo and Taltal Sank 16 Chilean vessels, including ships and boats Damaged the Chilean ships Blanco Encalada, Abtao, Magallanes and Matías Cousiño Captured the Chilean vessels Emilia, Adelaida Rojas, E. Saucy Jack, Adriana Lucía, Rímac and Coquimbo Aboard Rímac, captured 260 men from an elite Chilean cavalry regiment, along with horses, weapons, munitions and supplies Recovered the Peruvian vessels Clorinda and Caquetá Destroyed the artillery batteries of Antofagasta Cut the Antofagasta-Valparaíso communications cable.

The above actions are collectively called "Las correrías del Huáscar", Huáscar's exploits. This delayed a ground invasion by 6 months. She was the priority target for the Chilean Navy and drew all of their attention. On October 8, 1879 during the Battle of Angamos with most of her crew dead she was captured. During her service with the Chilean Navy she fought at Arica against the Preuvian monitor Manco Cápac.

After the war she was renovated in 1885 and 1887. She received new boilers, newly designed screws, and new engines to her guns. Another civil war saw her once again being taken by rebel forces. This time the rebels used her to overthrow the government. In 1897 a boiler explosion resulted in her being decommissioned by the Chilean Navy. Later she was partially repaired and served as the first sub tender in the Chilean Navy from 1917-1930. She was listed in Jane’s Fighting ships as late as 1949. Over the years her weapons had changed and she began to differ greatly from her original design. In 1951 an effort was made to restore her to her 1878 condition.


She was rebuilt as a shrine to both the Peruvian and Chilean Navies. During 1971 and 72 she was again rebuilt and this time her boilers were restored to their original design using the original blue prints from England. She was berthed in the Port of Talcahuano at the time of the 2010 earthquake. She remains one of the few ships from her era to have survived. She remains in high regard by both the countries of Peru and Chile.

So, just who or what is Huáscar? He was an Inca emperor from 1527-1532. He was born in 1491 and the exact origin of his name is unknown. After his father and brother died Huascar took over as leader. The history of Huascar was written by Juan de Betanzos. He paid close attention to his tyranny, but he was biased. During a civil war which broke out with the help of the Spanish he seized both the Land of Previous and the Lands of the Sun. In Incan society both of these lands were held in high regard. By conquering both Huascar was actually showing great disrespect for Incan religion.

During the civil war between Huascar and his brother Atahualpa large armies met in battle. One account claims 160,000 men met on the field of battle. It showed that the Inca were capable of fielding large armies and at one time able to beat back the Spanish. However the Spanish sat back and allowed the two sides to wear themselves down. When it appeared Atahualpa would turn out to be the winner Pizarro arrived in the scene. To prevent Huascar from offering a larger ransom of gold Atahualpa had his brother killed. Atahualpa was them Emperor. He captured by the Spanish and held for ransom. After the ransom was paid her was killed by the Spanish and they went on to conquer the Incan people.

So both Huáscars were warriors in their own time.



Images and base information from Wikipedia.