Pre-Dreadnought Preservation
The Huáscar

The Huáscar today.
Source: Armada de Chile (The Chilean Navy)

The Huáscar is a prize of war and one of Chile's national treasures. Originally in the service of the Peruvian navy, the Huáscar was captured by Chile during the War of the Pacific at the Battle of Angamos in 1879. Now berthed in the port of Talcahuano, Chile, the Huáscar is a floating memorial to both Chilean and Peruvian naval heroism.

The absolutely best Internet site regarding the Huáscar is Juan del Campo's The Peruvian Navy During the First Years of the Rebulic. Not only does this web site provide outstanding internal and external photographs of the Huáscar as she exists today, but also has a display of Mario Merino's amazing computer generated images of the Huáscar in Peruvian service. See also the British State of the Art Ironclad page for an additional painting of the Huáscar and a photograph of a detailed model of the ship.

Juan Del Campo's web site provides a very detailed history of the War of the Pacific and other engagements in which the Huáscar participated. Be sure to visit the site's pages on the the Battle of Iquique and the Battle of Angamos and the additional paintings of the battle. For information on the Huáscar's battle with the Royal Navy's H.M.S. Shah and H.M.S. Amesthyst while in the Peruvian service, see Britons & Peruvians Fight at Sea.

The Chilean Navy has put up some outstanding web pages regarding the history of their service and the Huáscar in particular.

One of the interesting features of the site includes a model of the Huáscar which can be spun in different directions with your cursor to provide different views of the model. In addition, animated time-lapse battle charts for two engagements of the Huáscar can be viewed over the Internet:

Here's a fantastic cut-away view and additional pictures of the Huáscar from the Batalias web site.

Some information on her turret and armaments from the outstanding La Guerra del Pacífico web site. The site also includes a very well done animation of the Battle of Inquique which includes a time print of the battle.

The site also has some great interior shots of the Huáscar

There are also many impressive photographs here. Explore all the links but be sure to play the online game. Players get to rotate the Huáscar's turret and fire her guns at targets.

• The Battle of Inquique: description in Spanish & animated battle chart
• The Battle of Angamos: description in Spanish & animated battle chart

You will need the browser plug-in Quicktime in order to enjoy the above three site features. Don't forget to press the "Play" button to start the animation of the battle charts.

If your Spanish is as poor as mine, you might wish to use Alta Vista's Babelfish web page translator to translate the Chilean Navy's web pages from Spanish to English.

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