Chilean cruiser O'Higgins (1897)
Cruiser O'Higgins of the Chilean Navy, painting by Álvaro Casanova Zenteno (1857-1935).
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History | |
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Chile | |
Name | O' Higgins |
Namesake | Bernardo O'Higgins |
Builder | Elswick, United Kingdom |
Laid down | 4 April 1896 |
Launched | 17 May 1897 |
Completed | 2 April 1898 |
Fate | Discarded 1946 |
General characteristics [1] | |
Type | Armoured cruiser |
Displacement | |
Length | 126 m (412 ft) |
Beam | 19.13 m (62 ft 9 in) |
Draught | 6.93 m (22 ft 9 in) |
Installed power | 16,250 ihp (12,120 kW) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 21.6 kn (40.0 km/h; 24.9 mph) |
Range | 4,580 nmi (8,480 km; 5,270 mi)[2] |
Complement | 500 |
Armament |
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Armour |
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O'Higgins
Construction
In April 1896, the Chilean government ordered an armoured cruiser, to be called O'Higgins, from
Design
O'Higgins main armament consisted of four
The main protection was a belt of armour along the side of the ship, 260 feet (79 m) long and 7 feet (2.1 m) deep, which was 7 inches (178 mm) thick around the ship's machinery, reducing to 6 inches (152 mm) fore and aft. An armoured deck protected the whole length and beam of the ship, with between 3 inches (76 mm) and 1.5 inches (38 mm) thick armour. The ship's hull was clad in copper and wood to reduce fouling.[1][2]
The ship was powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, supplied by 30
Operational history
While O'Higgins was nearing completion at Elswick in the winter of 1897, tensions were growing between Spain and the United States of America over the ongoing
The ship hosted a meeting between the President of Chile, Federico Errázuriz Echaurren and the Argentine President Julio Argentino Roca at Punta Arenas on 15 February 1899, to normalise relations between the two countries. This meeting became known as the "Embrace of the Straits" (El Abrazo del Estrecho). The ship was sent to Panama in 1903 as a result of the confrontation between the United States and Columbia that was ended by the separation of Panama from Colombia.[5]
In 1919, O'Higgins was fitted with a
In 1931, O'Higgins was involved in the large scale mutiny that swept the Chilean fleet, being seized by its crew on 1 September 1931.[12]
O'Higgins was decommissioned in 1933[5] and scrapped in 1958.[5][nb 3]
See also
Notes and references
- Notes
- ^ Sometimes written as General O'Higgins[2][3] or erroneously Almirante O'Higgins in the US media.,[4] for O'Higgins was never an Almirante.
- ^ The United States did manage to purchase two Armstrong-built protected cruisers from Brazil, which served as USS New Orleans and USS Albany, the former serving in the Spanish–American War.[8][9]
- ^ Sources differ as to when O'Higgins was disposed of. Chesneau and Kolesnik[1] and Brooke[11] say the ship was discarded in 1946, while Whitley[2] states 1954.
- Citations
- ^ a b c d e f Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 413.
- ^ a b c d e f g Whitley 1999, p. 25.
- ^ Parkes 1931, p. 120.
- ^ a b "The Almirante O'Higgins, Recently Built, Arrives at Valpariso". The New York Times. 26 July 1898.
- ^ "Spain and New Warships". The New York Times. 3 November 1897.
- ^ "Two Warships May Be Ours: Chile May Sell the O'Higgins and Argentina the Garibaldi or San Martin, besides Torpedo Boats". The New York Times, 16 April 1898.
- ^ Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 154.
- ^ Brooke 1999, pp. 86–88.
- ^ "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 42361. London. 17 March 1920. col D, p. 27.
- ^ a b Brooke 1999, p. 107.
- ^ Urrutia , Carlos López. "A Century of Peace". Chile: A Brief Naval History. Historical Text Archive. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
- Bibliography
- Brooke, Peter. Warships for Export: Armstrong Warships 1867–1927. Gravesend, UK: World Ship Society, 1999. ISBN 0-905617-89-4.
- Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway's Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
- Whitley, M.J. Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Brockhamton Press, 1999. ISBN 1-86019-8740.