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The Battle of Caldera Bay, or the Sinking of the Blanco Encalada, was an engagement fought in the port of Caldera Bay during the 1891 Chilean Civil War between Balmacedist and Congressional naval forces on 23 April 1891. It involved two Balmacedist torpedo boats, ''Almirante Lynch'' and ''Almirante Condell'', and the Congressional armored frigate ''Blanco Encalada''. After both torpedoes from ''Almirante Condell'' had missed, ''Blanco Encalada'' was hit by a torpedo from ''Almirante Lynch'' and sank in minutes, with the loss of 182 men. The loss of ''Blanco Encalada'' hindered the Congressional forces, but they ultimately defeated the Balmacedist forces that August. ''Blanco Encalada'' was the first ironclad warship lost to a self-propelled torpedo. The engagement prompted countries to rapidly grow both their torpedo boat and torpedo boat destroyer forces (the latter commonly referred to as destroyers). ==Background== In 1891, after a series of struggles about multinational nitrate interests, Chilean President José Manuel Balmaceda refused to sign the national budget passed by the Chilean National Congress. Balmaceda then dissolved Congress. The dissolution split both the Chilean Army and Navy, with some forces remaining loyal to Congress and others to the President. An armed conflict ensued after a mutiny by the navy, which at that time was docked at Valparaíso.〔 Supporters of those forces loyal to Congress, including members of the dissolved parliament and their backers among multinational nitrate interests, bought weaponry from Europe and the United States. Better equipped than the forces loyal to the President, they rapidly captured Chile's northern provinces, which had recently been conquered from Bolivia and Peru during the War of the Pacific. Since the Congressionalists controlled all of the current ships in the Chilean Navy, the Balmacedists commandeered vessels that were nearing completion in England and France, including the torpedo boats ''Almirante Condell'' and ''Almirante Lynch'' They were built by Laird Brothers, the same firm that built the Confederate raider ''Alabama'' thirty years before. Both ''Almirante Lynch'' and ''Almirante Condell'' carried an armament of five Whitehead torpedoes, two guns in echelon on the forecastle and one on the poop, four guns and two machine guns. Their maximum speed was around 21 knots.〔 The two ships arrived at Valparaíso on 21 March. Both ships docked at Quintero Bay on 18 April. While at Quintero, their commanding officers, Commander Carlos E. Moraga of the ''Almirante Condell'' and Commander Juan Fuentes of the ''Almirante Lynch'', were informed of the possibility that ''Blanco Encalada'', a Congressionalist frigate, was going to be in Caldera Bay in five days. The two commanders consulted with one another and sent their proposal to attack ''Blanco Encalada'' to the Balmacedist government, which was approved.〔 ''Blanco Encalada'' arrived at Caldera Bay on 22 April, under the command of Captain Goñi, escorting several transports. The troops on these ships landed and captured the surrounding railroad and town of Copiapó.〔 At about 01:20, Goñi returned to the ''Blanco Encalada''. Although it was known that Balmacedist torpedo boats were nearby, the Congressionalists believed that they would not attack the transports.〔 Because of this, torpedo nets were left onshore, and watertight bulkheads which would have isolated a hull breech were left open. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Caldera Bay」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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