THE NAVAL ACTION OFF IQUIQUE.

Kumara Times, Issue 926, 18 September 1879, Page 4

THE NAVAL ACTION OFF IQUIQUE.

The following is an extract from a private letter, dated Her Majesty'3 ship Turquoise, off Antofagasta, May 25th : " I told you about the burning of the Peruvian port Pisagua by the Chilian fleet, which has been cutting cables, &c, uninterruptedly up and down the coast of Peru and all the time the port of Iquique, which you will find in the map about 200 miles north of the disputed place Antofagasta, has been blockaded. For two months there has been a strict blockade going on, and nearly all that time Her Majesty's ship Turquoise has been lying there with the Chilian fleet. All this time nothing had been heard of the Peruvian fleet, except that they were in Callao Bay. I will now give you some idea of the relative strength of the two fleets. That of th 9 Chilanos consists of the Blanco Encalado and the Almiranto Cochrane ; the former is the flagship, and they are both powerful ironclads with fairly heavy guns ; two corvettes, the General O'Higgins and the Chacabuco, with heavy guns ; but, of course, no use against an ironclad ; two corvettes, the Ablao and the Magellanes, with two heavy guna, and some light ones; and, lastly, the Covadonga and the Esmeralda, two ancient rattletraps, the former captuied from the Spaniards in 1865 and the latter 27 years old. The Peruvian ships are fewer, but more powerful; first the Huascar, and exceedingly powerful little ship, with 9 inches of armour-plating and two guns throwing projectiles weigh2001bs in a turret, which has not quite recovered the hammering the Shah gave her, and the turret will now only turn half round ; the Independencia, a pretty powerful"ironclad, mounting some heavy guns, but not powerful enough to resist either of the Chilian ironships ; the Union and the Philcornayo, corvettes of pretty good strength; and, lastly, the Astabualpa and the Manco Capac, two monitors, only fit for harbor defence. On the 17th of May the Chilian squadron all cleared out, leaving only the Esmeralda and Covadonga and the transport Lamar to keep up the blockade, and sailed north to try and find the Peruvian fleet. On the 19ih we started after them, and next day arrived at Arica. No news of them from the north had reached this place, though they knew by telegram the fleet had sailed from Iquique. We had not been anchored long, when from the top of a hill four ships from the north were signalled in sight, and they proved to be the Huascar Independencia, and two transports. The The former had the Peruvian President, Prado, on board, with heavy guns for fortification, and the latter troops ; they had slipped past the Chilian fleet during the night without knowing they were on the look out for them. That very night, hearing the news on shore, they started for Iquique, and arrived thereon the 21st. The following account of the action which ensued is the substance oE what I heard. At about 7.30 a.m. two steamers were sighted from the north, and at first it was thought they were two of the Chilian squadron, but the Chilian ships, which were under way at the time, soon discovered the mistake. Captain Pratls, of the Esmeralda, finding something wrong with his engines, ordered the other ships to make a run for it while he covered their retreat, and the Lamar, being a fast vefsel, got clear away without the slightest damage. The Independencia chased the Covaionga round into Mola Bay, firing from a large 300 pounder in her bow with much effect; at the second dis charge the gun leaped from its carriage. Meanwhile the Covadonga was running among the reefs and had received a shot inherside. Finding she could not escape by speed, the captain determined to try a stratagem, and placed himself over a reef (which he was easily able to do, as his ship drew so little water) and slowed down the engines. The captain of the Independencia, unaware of the danger, endeavored to ram the Covadonga ; but the blow Avas skilfully avoided by a sudden rush ahead, and the great ironclad ran right up on the reef. Seeing, she must inevitably go to pieces, the:captain set her on fire, and the crew escaped in boats. The Covadonga being now safe, as the Huascar was engaged, she kept up a hot fire on the crew, killing about 30 out of the 400. While this was going on, the Huascar had found the Esmeralda quite sufficient to keep her employed ; she had got close into shore by the pier, trying to get the Huascar to run on shore by trying to ram, as they knew she dare not fear of striking the town. These tactics might have been successful, but a battery of four 9-pounders from the hills above opened a hot fire right down on the Esmeralda ; the old ship returned the fire spiritedly and dismounted two of the guns ; but her men could not work the guns under such a fire, and she had to stand out and boldly engage the Huascar. The ironclad rammed her, but only grazed her quarter, doing no damage, at the same time hailing her with an order to strike. To this the Esmeralda replied by running up the ensign in several places, placing guards to prevent their being hauled down, and firing a broadside. Of course her guns had very little effect on her opponents armor, but the fire was continued bravely, the Huascar's shooting being wretched. The Hu a *car now rammed again, striking her amidships and damaging her engines; the shock brought down her top-masts, but she continued to fire her guns undauntedly. Once more the ironclad rammed, striking her this time in the bows, when she immediately began to sink by the bows each crew firing their gun as the water touched it; they went down shouting, Viva el Chilil Just as she was sinking Captain Pratts called for borders and at the head of four men jumped on board Huascar. He rushed aft and they

met a body of men : he shot their officer and was then shot h.mself fighting to the last moment. The Huascar's boats were lowered and apout 47 men rescued but 200 of the pcor fellows were either killed or drowned. The last seen of the good old ship was the Chilian ensign still flying. "I think that was one of the finest actions that has ever been fought—an old wooden ship, almost falling to pieces, sustained an action for 3|- hours against a battery on shore and a powerful ironclad, and then went down with colors flying. They have shown themselves worthy of the title to which they lay claim—that of the ' English of South America.' "