Almirante Latorre-class battleship
Almirante Latorre at anchor during a sea trial in 1921.
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Class overview | |
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Builders | Armstrong Whitworth |
Operators | |
Preceded by | Capitán Prat |
Succeeded by | None |
Built | 2 (1 converted to an aircraft carrier) |
In commission | 1915–59 |
Lost | 1 |
Scrapped | 1 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 28,100 long tons (28,600 t) standard and 31,610 long tons (32,120 t) |
Length | 661 ft (201 m) overall |
Beam | 92 ft (28 m) |
Draught | 29 ft (8.8 m) |
Installed power | 37,000 shp (27,591 kW) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 22.75 knots (42.13 km/h; 26.18 mph) |
Range | 4,400 nmi (8,100 km; 5,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement | 1,167 (during the First World War) |
Armament |
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Armor |
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The Almirante Latorre class consisted of two
At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, Chile was engaged in an intense naval competition with its neighbor Argentina. This ended peacefully in 1902, but less than a decade later Argentina responded to Brazil's order for two dreadnoughts with two of its own. The Chilean congress responded by allocating money for its own dreadnoughts, which were ordered from the United Kingdom despite a strong push from the American government for the contracts, probably due to Chile's traditionally strong ties with the British.
Almirante Latorre, which was closer to completion than its
Background
Argentine–Chilean boundary dispute
Conflicting Argentine and Chilean claims to Patagonia, a geographic region in the southernmost portion of South America, went back to the 1840s. In 1872 and again in 1878, Chilean warships seized merchant ships which had been licensed to operate in the disputed area by Argentina. An Argentine warship did the same to an American ship in 1877. These actions nearly led to war in November 1878, when Argentina dispatched a squadron of warships to the Santa Cruz River. Chile responded with the same, and war was only avoided when the Fierro–Sarratea treaty was hastily signed. Both countries were distracted in the next few years by Argentina's internal military operations against the indigenous population and Chile's War of the Pacific (Guerra del Pacífico) against Bolivia and Peru, but by 1890 a full-fledged naval arms race was underway between the two.[1][2]
Both sides began ordering warships from the United Kingdom. Chile added £3,129,500 in 1887 to the budget for its fleet, which was centered on two 1870s central battery ironclads, Almirante Cochrane and Blanco Encalada, and a protected cruiser. The battleship Capitán Prat, two protected cruisers, and two torpedo boats were ordered, and their keels were laid in 1890. Argentina responded soon after with an order for two battleships, Independencia and Libertad. The race continued through the 1890s, even after the Chilean Civil War of 1891. The two countries alternated cruiser orders between 1890 and 1895, each ship marking a small increase in capabilities from the ship previous. The Argentines upped the ante in July 1895 by buying an armored cruiser, Garibaldi, from Italy. Chile responded by ordering its own armored cruiser, O'Higgins, and six torpedo boats; Argentina quickly ordered another cruiser from Italy and later bought two more.[3]
The race abated somewhat after a boundary dispute in the
The growing dispute disturbed the British government, who had extensive commercial interests in the area. Through their minister to Chile, they mediated negotiations between the two countries. These
Meanwhile, beginning in the late 1880s, Brazil's navy fell into obsolescence after an
Dreadnought arms race
By 1904, Brazil—the largest country in South America in both size and population—began to seriously consider upgrading its navy, which had fallen to third in total tonnage.
Argentina and other countries attempted to avert a full-scale naval arms race by offering to purchase one of the two dreadnoughts. Brazil refused Argentina's offer. After further tensions over the
Bidding, construction, and sale to the British
On 6 July 1910, the
Favor such as Great Britain showed Chile found no parallel in the world's other important navies ... except those countries linked by alliance to Great Britain. (Scheina, Naval History, 138, 364)
Still, the United States made a push to have the orders placed in an American shipyard. The American government sent
During this time, Germany announced plans to send the battlecruiser Von der Tann on a South American cruise. As the ship was "widely advertised as the fastest and most powerful warship then afloat,"[21] the United States and United Kingdom felt its presence might give German companies an advantage in potential armament contracts, so they sent ships of their own. The United States sent the new battleship Delaware on a ten-week excursion to Brazil and Chile, carrying the body of the recently deceased Chilean minister, Anibal Cruz, to the United States; the British responded with an armored cruiser squadron. Delaware's captain was ordered to give the Chileans full access to the vessel—the only exception being that he should not give full particulars of the new fire-control system[22]—in an attempt by the Navy Department "to aid the shipbuilding interests of the country [United States] to make contracts for the building of men-of-war for foreign countries."[23] As a further incentive, the US indicated its willingness to provide a $25 million loan to support the purchase of the ship.[24]
In the event, the efforts made by the United States came to little. The final decision came down to a choice between the American and British tenders,
Officially ordered on 2 November 1911 and
Almirante Latorre was
Service histories
Almirante Latorre was renamed HMS Canada and slightly modified for British service.
After the end of the war in Europe, Chile began to seek additional ships to bolster its fleet, and the United Kingdom eagerly offered many of its surplus warships. This action worried the nations of South America, who feared that a Chilean attempt to regain the title of "the first naval power in South America"[45] would destabilize the region and start another naval arms race.[46] Chile asked for Almirante Cochrane in addition to Canada, but would not purchase the ship unless it was reconstructed into the original battleship configuration. The British halted work on the incomplete ship while seriously considering the offer in October 1919. But because of the increased cost of reconverting her—£2.5 million, compared to a potential profit of £1.5 million from selling her—and a desire to test the aircraft carrier concept and especially the viability of island superstructures, the British kept and completed the ship, as HMS Eagle.[44][47]
In April 1920, Chile only bought Canada and four destroyers, all of which had been ordered by Chile prior to the war's outbreak and requisitioned by the British for the war.[46] Planned replacements for Almirante Cochrane included the two remaining Invincible-class battlecruisers, but a leak to the press of the secret negotiations to acquire them caused an uproar. The most visible dissension came from a block of officers in the navy who publicly opposed any possible purchase and instead promoted a "New Navy" which would acquire submarines and airplanes. They argued that these weapons would cost less and give the country, and its lengthy coastline, better protection from external threats. The ships were not bought for reasons of cost, but neither were the airplanes its supporters had been hoping for.[48]
Almirante Latorre in Chilean service
Canada was renamed Almirante Latorre once again and formally handed over to the Chilean government on 27 November 1920.[39] It departed Plymouth the same day with two of the destroyers,[49] and they arrived in Chile on 20 February 1921, where they were welcomed by Chile's president, Arturo Alessandri. Almirante Latorre was made the flagship of the navy.[18] The dreadnought was frequently used by Alessandri for various functions, including as transport to Vallenar after a 1922 earthquake,[18][50] and to Talcahuano for the grand opening of a new naval drydock in 1924.[18] In 1925, with the fall of the January Junta, the ship hosted Alessandri after his return from exile. In September, the last month of his term, Alessandri received the United Kingdom's Edward, Prince of Wales, on board the battleship.[48]
Almirante Latorre was sent to the United Kingdom for a modernization at the Devonport Dockyard in 1929. It lasted for quite some time, but finally left for Valparaíso nearly two years later, on 5 March 1931, and arrived on 12 April.[51] Not long after it returned, crewmembers aboard Almirante Latorre instigated a major mutiny. The revolt was a result of the country's economic woes in the midst of the Great Depression and a recent pay cut. Most of the navy's ships joined Almirante Latorre in the mutiny, but they surrendered five days after it began when an air strike was mounted by government forces. Almirante Latorre ended up in the Bay of Tongoy with Blanco Encalada.[52][53][54]
With Chile still in the midst of the depression, Almirante Latorre was deactivated at Talcahuano in 1933 to lessen government expenditures,
Almirante Cochrane/Eagle in British service
Eagle was used for trials throughout 1920. As the concept of aircraft carriers was still very new, the lessons learned were incorporated in a 1921–23 refit. Its official
In September, a major fire severely damaged Eagle, so it was sent back to the United Kingdom. The refit lasted from October 1941 to February 1942, and it was quickly sent to reinforce Force H. It was employed to ferry fighters to Malta in attempts to keep the besieged island under British control. As part of this duty, it was used to cover a convoy in August 1942 (Operation Pedestal); during the voyage, Eagle was sunk in four minutes by four torpedoes from the German submarine U-73.[62]
Specifications
Almirante Latorre closely resembled the British Iron Duke class, the major difference being that the Chilean ship was longer, had less forecastle but more quarterdeck, and had larger funnels along with an aft mast. The ship was 28,100 long tons (28,600 t) standard and 31,610 long tons (32,120 t) at full load. At 661 feet (201 m) overall, it was 39 feet (12 m) longer than the Iron Duke-class; it had a beam of 92 feet (28 m) and a mean draft of 29 feet (8.8 m).[28]
The ship's
Almirante Latorre was powered by
The battleship's armor was composed of a 9-to-4-inch (229 to 102 mm) belt, 4.5-to-3-inch (114 to 76 mm) bulkheads, 10-to-4-inch (254 to 102 mm) barbettes, 10-inch (254 mm) turret faces, a 4-to-3-inch (102 to 76 mm) turret roof, a 11-inch (280 mm) conning tower, and 4-to-1-inch (102 to 25 mm) armoured decks.[28]
Footnotes
- ^ Chile's naval tonnage was 36,896 long tons (37,488 t), Argentina's 34,425 long tons (34,977 t), and Brazil's 27,661 long tons (28,105 t).[7]
- ^ By 1911, the disparity between the navies of Chile, Argentina, and Brazil had grown; Brazil had nearly four times the tonnage of Chile, while Argentina had nearly three and a half times as much.[13]
- ^ Livermore attributes part of this delay to a 1908 earthquake,[16] but no major earthquake hit Chile in that year, cf. List of earthquakes in Chile. However, the Valparaíso earthquake of 1906 caused nearly 4,000 deaths, a tsunami, and a wide swath of destruction over the Chilean capital and surrounding areas. Given this, and at least one primary source's confirmation that the plans were delayed by the Valparaíso earthquake,[17] it seems likely that Livermore's 1908 earthquake was a simple typographical error.
- city of the same name, Constitución, Spanish for "constitution." Almirante Cochrane was a tribute to another admiral, Thomas Cochrane.[19]
- ^ Rio de Janeiro was ordered for Brazil from Armstrong in 1911, but falling government revenues forced Brazil to look for a country willing to purchase her. The Ottoman Empire obliged and bought the battleship over before completion, renaming it Sultân Osmân-ı Evvel.[27] The battleship was completed on the eve of the First World War, but shortly after it began, Sultân Osmân-ı Evvel was taken over by the Royal Navy to prevent it from being used against the Triple Entente.[28]
- Henry Prather Fletcher, commented to Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan: "Since the naval rivalry began in 1910, financial conditions, which were none too good then, have grown worse; and as time approaches for the final payment, feeling has been growing in these countries that perhaps they are much more in need of money than of battleships."[38]
- ^ Scheina gives 17 November as the launching date.[19]
- ^ It is not clear when Almirante Latorre was reactivated. Scheina gives two possible years, 1935 or after the 1937 refit.[57]
- ^ Sources disagree as to the exact date. Whitley, the New York Times, and Burt give 28, 29, and 30 August, respectively.[39][51][60]
Endnotes
- ^ Scheina, Naval History, 45–46.
- ^ Garrett, "Beagle Channel," 85–87.
- ^ Scheina, Naval History, 45–49, 297–298, 347.
- ^ Scheina, Naval History, 49–50.
- ^ Scheina, Naval History, 49–52.
- ^ Topliss, "The Brazilian Dreadnoughts," 240.
- ^ a b c d e f Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 32.
- ^ a b Scheina, "Brazil," 403.
- ^ Sondhaus, Naval Warfare, 216.
- ^ "Germany may buy English warships," The New York Times, 1 August 1908, C8.
- ^ Scheina, "Argentina," 400.
- ^ Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 32–33.
- ^ a b c Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 41.
- ^ Hough, The Big Battleship, 23.
- ^ Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 33–41.
- ^ Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 40.
- ^ "The Status of South American Navies," Naval Engineers, 257.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Acorazado Almirante Latorre". Archived from the original on 8 June 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Armada de Chile, archived 8 June 2008. - ^ a b c d e f g h i Scheina, Naval History, 322.
- ^ Scheina, Naval History, 138.
- ^ a b Quoted in Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 41.
- ^ Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 41–42.
- ^ Quoted in Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 42.
- ^ a b Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 42.
- ^ Hough, The Big Battleship, 24.
- ^ a b Burt, British Battleships, 231.
- ^ Scheina, Naval History, 82.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Preston, "Great Britain," 38.
- ^ Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 42–43.
- ^ English, Armed Forces, 146.
- ^ a b Parkes, British Battleships, 605.
- ^ Scheina, "Chile," 408.
- ^ Gill, "Professional Notes," 493.
- New York Tribune, 2 November 1913, 12.
- ^ Gill, "Professional Notes," 934.
- ^ a b Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 45.
- ^ Kaldis, "Background for Conflict," D1135.
- ^ Quoted in Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 45.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Burt, British Battleships, 240.
- ^ Gill, "Professional Notes," 193.
- ^ a b Parkes, British Battleships, 607.
- ^ Burt, British Battleships, 231, 240.
- ^ "British Navy Gains," The New York Times, 7 December 1918, 14.
- ^ a b Preston, "Great Britain," 70.
- ^ Graser Schornstheimer, "Chile as a Naval Power," The New York Times, 22 August 1920, X10.
- ^ a b Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 48.
- ^ Brown, "HMS Eagle," 251.
- ^ a b Somervell, "Naval Affairs," 389–390.
- ^ "Chile's War Fleet Sails," The New York Times, 28 November 1920, 12.
- ^ "More Earthquakes Hit Northern Chile," The New York Times, 16 November 1922, 3.
- ^ a b c d e Whitley, Battleships, 33.
- ^ Scheina, Naval History, 112–114.
- ^ Scheina, Latin America's Wars, 76.
- ^ Sater, "The Abortive Kronstadt," 240–253.
- ^ "Chile Lays Up All Battleships in Drastic Economy Measure," The New York Times, 19 January 1933, 7.
- ^ Scheina, Naval History, 86, 359.
- ^ Scheina, Naval History, 359.
- ^ Scheina, Naval History, 164.
- ^ English, Armed Forces, 149.
- ^ a b "Chilean Warship in Japan," The New York Times, 30 August 1959, S13.
- ^ Brown, "HMS Eagle," 251–265.
- ^ Brown, "HMS Eagle," 265–271.
- ^ Whitley, Battleships, 20.
- ^ a b Campbell, Naval Weapons, 379.
- ^ Burt, British Battleships, 231, 234.
- ^ Brown, "HMS Eagle," 249.
- ^ Burt, British Battleships, 234.
References
- Brown, David. "HMS Eagle." In Profile Warship, edited by OCLC 249286023.
- Burt, R. A. British Battleships of World War One. OCLC 14224148.
- Campbell, John. Naval Weapons of World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1985. OCLC 13085151.
- English, Adrian J. Armed Forces of Latin America. London: Jane's Publishing Inc., 1984. OCLC 11537114.
- Gardiner, Robert and Randal Gray, eds. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1985. OCLC 12119866.
- Garrett, James L. "The Beagle Channel Dispute: Confrontation and Negotiation in the Southern Cone." Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 27, no. 3 (1985): 81–109. OCLC 2239844.
- Gill, C.C. "Professional Notes." Proceedings 40, no. 1 (1914): 186–272. OCLC 2496995.
- ———. "Professional Notes." Proceedings 40, no. 2 (1914): 495–618. OCLC 2496995.
- ———. "Professional Notes." Proceedings 40, no. 3 (1914): 835–947. OCLC 2496995.
- OCLC 8898108.
- Kaldis, William Peter. "Background for Conflict: Greece, Turkey, and the Aegean Islands, 1912–1914." Journal of Modern History 51, no. 2 (1979): D1119–D1146. OCLC 62219150.
- Parkes, Oscar. British Battleships. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1990. First published 1957 by Seeley Service. OCLC 22240716.
- Preston, Antony. "Great Britain." In Gardiner and Gray, Conway's, 1–104.
- Livermore, Seward W. "Battleship Diplomacy in South America: 1905–1925." Journal of Modern History 16, no. 1 (1944): 31–48. OCLC 62219150.
- Sater, William F. "The Abortive Kronstadt: The Chilean Naval Mutiny of 1931." Hispanic American Historical Review 60, no. 2 (1980): 239–68. OCLC 421498310.
- Scheina, Robert L. "Argentina." In Gardiner and Gray, Conway's, 400–403.
- ———. "Brazil." In Gardiner and Gray, Conway's, 403–407.
- ———. "Chile." In Gardiner and Gray, Conway's, 407–409.
- ———. Latin America: A Naval History 1810–1987. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1987. OCLC 15696006.
- ———. Latin America's Wars. Washington, DC: Brassey's, 2003. OCLC 49942250.
- Somervell, Philip. "Naval Affairs in Chilean Politics, 1910–1932." Journal of Latin American Studies 16, no. 2 (1984): 381–402. OCLC 47076058.
- "The Status of South American Navies," Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers 21, no. 1 (1909): 254–57. OCLC 3227025.
- Topliss, David. "The Brazilian Dreadnoughts, 1904–1914." Warship International 25, no. 3 (1988): 240–289. OCLC 1647131.
- Vanterpool, Alan. "The Riachuleo." Warship International 6, no. 2 (1969): 140–141.
- Whitley, M.J. Battleships of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998. OCLC 40834665.
Further reading
- Sturton, Ian. "Battleship End-notes: Almirante Latorre." In Warship 2006, edited by John Jordan, 124–125. London: Conway Maritime Press, 2006. OCLC 64315089.
External links
- Acorazado "Almirante Latorre" 1°, Unidades Historicas, Armada de Chile.
- Media related to Almirante Latorre-class battleship at Wikimedia Commons