Juan José Latorre

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Juan José Latorre
General Cemetery of Santiago
Allegiance	Chile
Service/branch	Chilean Navy
Years of service	1861–1891;1897
Rank	Vice Admiral
Commands held	Commander of the squad (1882) Commander in Chief of the Chilean Navy (1886-1887)
Battles/wars	Chincha Islands War Battle of Papudo Battle of Abtao War of the Pacific Battle of Chipana Battle of Angamos
Spouse(s)	Julia Moreno Zuleta
Children	Arturo, Juan José, Mercedes, María Luisa and Marta
Relations	Elías Latorre (father) Nicomedia Benavente (mother)
Other work	Politician

Juan José Latorre Benavente (

Son of Elías Latorre and of Nicomedia Benavente, the oldest of eight brothers. After the early death of his father, three of his younger brothers were taken by the paternal family in Peru, where they were raised. Later on, one of the brothers participated also in the War of the Pacific, but on the Peruvian side.

At the age of nine, in 1855, he won a scholarship to the Naval Academy. Appointed midshipman on July 15, 1861. He served on the Esmeralda during the Chincha Islands War and participated in the Battle of Papudo, where the Spanish schooner Covadonga was captured, and in the Battle of Abtao.

On February 12, 1873 was promoted to first lieutenant, and given command of the Toltén first, and the Magallanes later. It was in this later ship that he was going to make his name as one of the ablest naval commanders of the coming war. During his patrols of the extreme southern region of Chile, he was involved in a diplomatic incident with

War of the Pacific years

Naval Battle de Chipana

While in command of the Magallanes, he was the first to come face to face with the Peruvian navy at the Battle of Chipana. On April 12, 1879, he crossed paths with the Peruvian warships Unión and Pilcomayo that tried to capture his vessel. Outgunned, Latorre decided to escape. During the ensuing pursuit, he noticed that the speed of the two Peruvian ships was greatly different, and that the Pilcomayo was falling considerably behind.

Once the Peruvian Unión was alone, he turned his ship around, and opened fire. The battle thus ensued. The Peruvian aim was very poor, due to their lack of training, but the Chilean aim was only marginally better. At one point, the Unión started spewing white smoke from one of its sides. This led the Peruvian captain to think his ship had been seriously hit, and gave up the pursuit, allowing the weaker Magallanes to escape unharmed. In fact the whole incident was caused by the overheating of one of the boilers.

Second Naval Battle of Iquique

After the disastrous reduction of the Peruvian navy at the First

Latorre, who was commanding the Magallanes decided to fend off the attack, in spite of the difference in strength of both ships (260 tons versus 1130). Admiral Grau tried to sink the smaller ship thrice, using his ram, but in spite of his ability the Magallanes was able to keep him at bay long enough for the ironclad Cochrane to show up, after which the Huascar decided to retreat back to Arica.

Naval Battle of Angamos

On September 6, 1879 Latorre was promoted to commander of the ironclad

On the night of October 7 he was informed that the Huáscar had been seen near the port of

• See Chilean ship Almirante Latorre for the ships named in honor of Juan José Latorre.