Chilean transport Rímac

Rímac was a steamer involved in decisive actions of the War of the Pacific (1879–1884) and Thousand Days' War (1899–1902).

The sinking of Lautaro, formerly Rímac off Panama City in January 20, 1902
History
Name: Rímac
Namesake: Rímac river
Operator: Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores
Builder: R. & J. Evans & Co. Liverpool
Yard number: 54
Launched: 1872
Commissioned: 2 April 1874
Fate: lent to Chilean Navy in May 1879
Chile
Name: Rímac
Commissioned: May 1879
Fate: Captured by the Peruvian Navy on 23 July 1879
Perú
Name: Rímac
Commissioned: 23 July 1879
Fate: Scuttled on 17 January 1881
Name: Rímac
Operator: Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores
Completed: Ship refloated in June 1881 by Chilean government
Acquired: $ 36,000 (auctioned)
Renamed: Lautaro on 5 September 1882
Fate: lent to Conservative Party in Colombian Civil war 1902
Colombia
Name: Lautaro
Fate: Sunk off Panama City on 20 January 1902
General characteristics
Displacement: 1.805 tons. gruesas. 1.227 tons.registro
Length: 88.93 metres (291 ft 9 in)
Installed power: 340 hp (250 kW)
Propulsion: compound inverted built by Fawcett, Preston & Co., Liverpool
Speed: 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Armament: 4 guns a 32 lbs

After construction of the ship in the United Kingdom in 1872, she was purchased by the Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores and arrived in Chile in 1874.

On 5 May 1874 the Chilean government issued a subvention program under which Chilean enterprises supplied Navy with materiel, called "Convenio de subvención." At the beginning of the war and under this agreement Rímac was handed over to the Chilean Navy, together with the ships Loa and Itata.[1]

In May 1879 she towed Covadonga to Antofagasta after the Battle of Punta Gruesa.[2]:357

In June 1879 the Peruvian ironclad Huáscar captured Rímac with 260 men of a cavalry regiment, weapons and ammunition. This loss caused riots in Santiago and led to the resignation of the Minister of National Defense, Basilio Urrutia Vásquez, and the commander-in-chief of the Chilean Navy, Juan Williams Rebolledo.[3]

After the defeat of the Peruvian Army in the battles of San Juan and Miraflores, the Secretary of the Navy, Captain Manuel Villar, during the night of 16 January 1881 ordered the destruction of the port defenses and the remaining ships of the Peruvian Navy, including Rímac, to prevent their (re-)capture by the Chilean troops. The order was executed by the captains Luis Germán Astete and Manuel Villavisencio during the dawn of 17 January 1881. But few months later, in June 1881 she was refloated and auctioned off to CSAV (again) for $36,000.

During the Thousand Days' War in Colombia, Rímac, then renamed Lautaro, was lent to the Conservative Party; she was sunk off Panama City on 20 January 1902, fighting against Admiral Padilla of the Liberal Party.

See also

References
  1. Chilean Navy site,Transporte Rímac Archived 2013-01-16 at Archive.today, retrieved on 27 November 2012
  2. Carlos López Urrutia (29 February 2008). Historia de La Marina de Chile. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-0-615-18574-3. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  3. THE WAR BETWEEN CHILI AND PERU, Timaru Herald, Rōrahi XXXI, Putanga 1605, 12 Whiringa-ā-rangi 1879, Page 3 , retrieved on 6 December 2012
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