Chilean Navy
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Armada de Chile | |
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The Chilean Navy (
History
Origins and the Wars of Independence (1817–1830)
The origins of the Chilean Navy date back to 1817, when General Bernardo O'Higgins prophetically declared after the Chilean victory at the Battle of Chacabuco that a hundred such victories would count for nothing if Chile did not gain control of the sea.[2]
This led to the development of the Chilean Navy, and the first legal resolutions outlining the organization of the institution were created. Chile's First National Fleet and the Academy for Young Midshipmen, which was the predecessor of the current Naval Academy, were founded, as well as the Marine Corps and the Supply Commissary.
The first commander of the Chilean Navy was Manuel Blanco Encalada. Famous British naval commander Lord Cochrane, who formerly had been a captain in the British royal navy, was hired by Chileans to organize and command their Navy. Cochrane recruited an almost all-anglophone complement of officers and midshipmen and crews of British, Irish, and American seamen. He became a key figure in the war against loyalist forces in Peru, and was instrumental in taking control of the fortresses of Valdivia, though he failed in his attempt to conquer Chiloé Island.
In March 1824, the Chilean Navy and Army undertook an expedition to expel the Spanish from Chiloé Archipelago. An expedition was dispatched to Chiloé Island, but it ended in failure when the Chilean Army led by Jorge Beauchef was defeated at the Battle of Mocopulli. Only after Ramón Freire's Chiloé expedition in 1826 did the royalist forces at Chiloé, under the command of Antonio de Quintanilla, surrender and Chiloé joined the new Chilean nation.
Age of exploration, territorial expansion, and wars (1830–1885)
After the wars of independence, a series of conflicts demonstrated the importance of the navy to the nation. First of these conflicts were the War of the Confederation (1836–1839), the Chincha Islands War (1864–1866), and the War of the Pacific (1879–1883). The founding of Fuerte Bulnes in the Strait of Magellan marked the starting point of a series of Chilean Navy explorations, led by navy hydrographers, such as Francisco Vidal Gormaz and Francisco Hudson, in the unknown zone between the Strait of Magellan and Chiloé. To deal with this new area of activity, the navy founded in 1874 the Hydrographic Office, whose first director was Francisco Vidal Gormaz.
Chilean
The navy further distinguished itself during the Battle of Pisagua in 1879, led by both the Navy and the Marine Artillery Groups and Marine Infantry, the world's first modern military landing operation, that resulted in Chilean victories in other parts of Peru's Tarapacá region, and resulted to its annexation by Chile.
After navy visits to
With the Peruvian Navy destroyed, Bolivia becoming a landlocked country, and Argentina having only a brown-water navy, the Chilean Navy had a regional hegemony in the years following the War of the Pacific. To secure this advantage and not let new Argentine acquisitions challenge Chilean naval power, the Chilean government decided to modernize its navy. The modernization plan included the ordering of two cruisers and two torpedo boat destroyers, and the modernization of two armoured ships in English docks.
Civil war and arms race (1885–1902)
Year | Ships | Builder |
1887 | 1 pre-dreadnought battleship 2 protected cruisers 2 torpedo boats |
La Seyne La Seyne ? |
1891 Chilean Civil War
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1892 | 1 protected cruiser | Elswick, Tyne and Wear
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1895 | 1 protected cruiser 1 armored cruiser |
Armstrong |
1896 | 1 armoured cruiser 6 torpedo boats |
Armstrong ? |
1901 | 2 predreadnought battleships 1 protected cruiser |
Armstrong Armstrong |
1902 arms control treaty with Argentina |
A new predreadnought battleship,
Not all navy officers sided with the congress. Some like Juan Williams Rebolledo, Juan José Latorre and Policarpo Toro remained on the presidential side and Francisco Vidal Gormaz declared his neutrality. After the war these officers were removed from their offices. In contrast to these officers whose career or influence in the navy was truncated by the war, the 1891 Chilean Civil War served as a starting point of a successful career in the navy for a generation of young officers like Francisco Nef and others who sided with the Congressionals who won the war.
After incidents with Chile in 1872, 1877, and 1878, Argentina had decided that a brown-water navy, even if modern, was not enough to back up its ambitions in Patagonia and the South Atlantic. Both countries were distracted in the next few years by Argentina's internal
During the 1890s, the Chilean Navy carried out many hydrographic surveys in the
Depression and mutiny (1902–1950)
In 1904, Brazil ordered two
Chile also received six British H-class submarines from the Royal Navy in 1917, and purchased three Capitan O'Brien-class submarines and six Serrano-class destroyers in the late 1920s. Its fleet of cruisers, though, all built in the 1890s, were totally outdated by the time the Great Depression forced their retirements without replacements.
In 1931, the navy once more made headlines in Chilean politics when large portions of it (26 ships) began a mutiny that demanded the president to rescind a salary reduction. The demands were later expanded to include an agrarian reform, industrial "solidarity", and the payment of the external debt by the "millionaires". The mutineers had their ships located at Coquimbo and Talcahuano's naval base, which they controlled. Chilean government responded by sending the Chilean Air Force to bombard the ships in Coquimbo and charging Talcahuano's naval base. After the quelling of the rebellion, the navy was purged, although the mutiny had its origin among the lower ranks.
These economic and political factors, along with Chile's neutrality for much of World War II, meant that the navy did not acquire any warships until after the war.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2010) |
Chile formulated its Antarctic claim in 1940. In 1947, the navy established the first Chilean base, the Captain Arturo Prat Base, on the continent before the Chilean Army or Air Force established their own bases. Since then, the navy has played a major role in supplying Chilean bases and performing numerous rescue missions, among them, the MV Explorer in 1972 and 2007.
The Navy's most recognizable sailing-school ship, the
In the 1950s, the Chilean Navy became involved in a series of incidents with the Argentine Navy and Argentine civilians in the disputed areas of the Beagle Channel and Cape Horn. These incidents took the form of incursions into Chilean waters by Argentine fishing ships, and provocations, such as the shelling of a Chilean lighthouse by the Argentine Navy during the Snipe incident of 1958.
During the late 1970s, the Chilean Navy played an important role in defending Chilean sovereignty over the Picton, Lennox and Nueva islands that the Argentine Navy planned to seize.
The birth of the modern Chilean Marine Corps of today began in 1964. Naval educational institutions were reformed in 1968, when president Eduardo Frei Montalva created the "Naval Specialities Schools System" with headquarters at the Las Salinas Naval Base in Viña del Mar. One of its schools, the Naval Seaman Training School, became the Seamen's School of the Navy "Captain Alejandro Navarrete Cisterna" in the same year as its centenary, in honor of the first naval seaman to rise through the ranks to become a naval officer. The NSSS soon became the Naval Polytechnic Academy in 1995, through a merger of all its component schools, with some of these schools staying as independent constituent academies.
After the
Present
The 25,000-person navy, including 5,200 marines, is directed by Admiral Julio Leiva Molina Martin as of 2017. Of the fleet of 66 surface vessels (soon to be increased to 74),[citation needed] 21 are major combatant ships based in Valparaíso. The navy operates its own aircraft for transport, patrol, and surface and antisubmarine attack. The navy also operates four submarines and a tender ship to support them, all based in Talcahuano.
The navy also provides access to services for residents of Chile's Pacific and Southern island regions, thus integrating its disjointed geography. The transport of passengers, especially during the school year or in cases of emergency, together with the supply of provisions and fuel, are of key importance to the inhabitants of these insular zones.
The institution regularly carries out civil operations whereby navy professionals provide social assistance and health care to the civilian population, and provide support in cases of natural catastrophe.
It also undertakes preventive education campaigns for Chile's population on issues that include security on beaches and seaside resorts, and measures to be taken in the case of a tsunami.
The most important naval bases and supply depots are (from north to south) in the Pacific Ocean:
Equipment
Ships
Historic ships
- See List of decommissioned ships of the Chilean Navy
- Baquedano, first school ship of the navy
- dreadnought battleshipof the Chilean Navy
- Blanco Encalada
- Covadonga
- Flach, a submarine prototype of 1866
- Ironclad Huáscar, museum ship in Talcahuano
- Lautaro, as Priwall recorded the fastest ever westward rounding of Cape Horn by a commercial sailing ship in five days and fourteen hours
- Steam corvette Esmeralda (1855)
- 2nd class protected cruiser Esmeralda (1883)
- Esmeralda (BE-43), school ship of the navy
Aircraft inventory
- Helicopters and armored amphibians for LSDH Aldea.[citation needed]
- The construction of another 3 PZM Patrulleros de Zona Marítima PZM, one for each naval zone.[citation needed]
- Elbit Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle for maritime patrol tasks - under evaluation.[12]
- Replacement or modernization of the L-class frigates.[13][14] On December 27, 2019, it was announced that Australia had sold the Adelaide-class frigates, HMAS Newcastle (FFG 06) and HMAS Melbourne (FFG 05) to Chile.[15]
- Construction of 4 multi-purpose ships (LPD), part of project "Escotillón IV" and the "plan de construcción naval continua" (continuous naval construction plan in spanish) of the Chilean Navy.[16]
Chilean Marines
The Chilean Marines or (Infanteria de Marina de Chile) are the land/amphibious attack force of the Chilean Navy. The 5,000 man force combines special training and tactics with state-of-the-art equipment.
SHOA
The Servicio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de la Armada de Chile (SHOA, Spanish for Hydrological and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy) is an agency of the Chilean Navy managing situations dealing with hydrology and oceanography including tides and tsunamis. SHOA is also the official Chilean government timekeeper.[17]
Ranks and rates
Ranks and rates are shown on the sleeves of all Chilean Navy summer uniforms (and on the shoulder boards on winter or summer service uniforms as well for officers and WOs only). Shoulder and sleeve ranks are inspired by those in the British Royal Navy, the French Navy and the German Navy. Officers, WOs and NCOs of the Marines add the Infante de Marina (Marine Soldier) title to their ranks from Seaman onward, as the Marines are part of the Navy.
All officers, active or reserve, study at the Arturo Prat Naval Academy and later in the Naval Polytechnic Academy and the Naval War Academy receive improved training and education to be promoted as well as training in his/her specialty field while all active and reserve NCOs (known in the Navy through the general term Men of the Sea) study at the Seamen's School of the Navy "Alejandro Navarette Cisnerna" and later in the Naval Polytechnic Academy and its attached and independent colleges for later specialty training.
Officers
Rank group | General/flag officers | Senior officers | Junior officers | Officer cadet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chilean Navy[18] |
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Almirante | Vicealmirante | Contraalmirante | Comodoro | Capitán de navío | Capitán de fragata | Capitán de corbeta | Teniente 1° | Teniente 2° | Subteniente | Guardiamarina | Cadete |
Enlisted
Rank group | Senior NCOs | Junior NCOs | Enlisted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chilean Navy[18] |
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Suboficial mayor | Suboficial | Sargento primero | Sargento segundo | Cabo primero | Cabo segundo | Marinero primero | Marinero segundo |
Commanders-in-chief
Gallery
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Naval Battle of Iquique. Esmeralda versus Huascar
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Battleship Almirante Latorre
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The submarine Simpson (SS-21) enteringPearl Harbor, Hawaiiin 2004
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Capitan Prat on the North Sea
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Chilean Navy Cougar
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Chilean frigate Almirante Blanco Encalada at Pearl Harbor, 2006
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The Chilean training ship Esmeralda in Charlottetown
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Headquarters of Chilean Navy, in Valparaíso
Footnotes
- ^ 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.[6]
- ^ Livermore and Grant, who cites Livermore's work,[8] both attribute part of this delay to a 1908 earthquake, 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, it seems likely that Livermore's 1908 earthquake was a typographical error inadvertently repeated in Grant's account.
Endnotes
- ^ WO1 Luis Mella Toro. Brazas a ceñir.
{{cite AV media}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Our History - Armada de Chile". Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ISBN 0-8203-1249-5
- ^ Schenia, Naval History, 45–46; Garrent, "Beagle Channel," 85–87.
- ^ Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 32.
- ^ Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 41.
- ^ Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 33–41.
- ^ Grant, Rulers, Guns, and Money, 168; Livermore, "Battleship Diplomacy," 40.
- ^ Report of the Chilean National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation Archived 2013-02-01 at the Wayback Machine (English translation of the Rettig report, PDF file)
- ^ Esmeralda: The torture ship Archived former site of a committee led by Germán F. Westphal, a former Chilean political prisoner and a professor at the University of Maryland in the United States. They believe the ship should not be allowed in ports as long as the crimes remain unpunished. Last updated 15 March 2006.
- La Nación, 3 May 2008.(in Spanish)
- ^ Chilean navy considers Hermes 900 deal Archived 2015-01-25 at the Wayback Machine - Flightglobal.com, 7 October 2013
- ^ La Armada de Chile busca reemplazo para sus fragatas antiaéreas 'Clase L' (in Spanish), webinfomil.com, 24 January 2018, archived from the original on 14 February 2018, retrieved 14 February 2018
- ^ Uno de los ejes de mi gestión es la RENOVACIÓN DE LAS FUERZAS de superficie (in Spanish), El Mercurio, 14 January 2018, p. 14, archived from the original on 15 February 2018, retrieved 14 February 2018
- ^ "Defence strategists lament sale of most capable ships in RAN history". The Australian. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
- ^ "Piñera destaca el aporte del proyecto Escotillón IV al Plan de Construcción Naval de Chile". 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022. (in spanish)
- ^ "SERVICIO HIDROGRÁFICO Y OCEANOGRÁFICO DE LA ARMADA DE CHILE". Retrieved 2 July 2022.
References
- 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.
- Gibbs, Jay (2005). "Question 30/04: The Bolivian Navy in the War of the Pacific". Warship International. XLII (3): 242–247. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Grant, Jonathan A. Rulers, Guns, and Money: The Global Arms Trade in the Age of Imperialism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007. OCLC 166262725
- Livermore, Seward W. "Battleship Diplomacy in South America: 1905–1925." Journal of Modern History 16, no. 1 (1944): 31–48. OCLC 62219150.
External links
- Armada de Chile website (in Spanish)
- Armada de Chile website (in English)
- Ranks of the Armada de Chile
- Official Chilean time webpage in English; from SHOA.
- Opinion piece about alleged UK-Chile cooperation in the Falklands War