The Portland daily press., 1892-06-18

glory to ease the
sting of defeat be-
Tore she gave her up. It was the battle OF
Angamoe, Oct. 8, 1879, that changed the
Huascar's ownership set-to famous in
naval annals and the target of streams OF
small talk in cabin and forecastle, because
1t was the first square battle ever fought
between two seagoing ironclads. Chill had
the upper hand of her little neighbor at
that stage of the quarrel and should have
blown the last Peruvian bottom out of
water on sight. But Peru had for COM
mander of its one vessel fighting tar, who
was host in hinself-only give him tub
and a swivel gun-Admiral Miguel Grau.
Unlike most able South American tars of
those times, Grau was scion of Spanish
stock and his veins pulsated with the blood
of daring race-sailors who fought in the
armadas of old Aragon and Castillo
An affair in the harbor of Iquique, four
months earlier than Angamos, left Peru
with single man-of-war worth the name,
the Huascar, to cope with Chili's two new
ironclads, Cochrane and Blanco Encalada,
and her numerous corvettes and gunboats.
Grau had made his way up from common
sailor and was a captain when the war
~O~--A1AOASSNAS 81 AEJlAl, ICtOs duO
the destruction of the Gillian corvette, Es-
meralda, together with her commander,
Capt. Prat-whom the Chilians compare
with Nelson-made him an admiral, and
with the Huascar, single handed, set out to
protect the disputed seacoast from Chilian
invasion. For four months this man bluffed
the entire CHILEAN navy and guarded Peru
from attack. His only support was the
wNOdor, 10 Tn;, IL ~, f.
reconstructed in name, at least) carrying
thirteen guns. Of course he owed much to
luck and had some remarkable escapes.
Once he escaped the fate of being 'hoist
by his own petard, /" and the episode showed
the mettle OF the men he had around him.
One day he drove two CHILEAN warships to
shelter under the guns of their shore bat
teries, out of reach, and launched floating
torpedo to destroy one of them. Some bad
arrangement of the machinery in the in
fernal continuance caused it to put short
about after going few lengths toward the
enemy and plunge straight for the sides Of
the Huascar. In moment Peru IS last hope
would have been gone but for the daring
of Lieut.. Canseco, who jumped overheard
and towed the monster out of it's meancinp
course.
III OSo SlC SiAAloA navy, Wlba I6SQ
equipment and well CREASED keels, set sail
to ind the Huascar and put an end to her.
On the morning of the Sth the feet, in two
divisions, neared the Point of Angamos, and
it happened that on that morning Admiral
Grau, with the Huascar and the corvette
Union, was sailing leisurely up the coast.
About daylight he sighted the CHILEAN IRON
clad Rlanco Encalada with the formidable
foxrr -.
sailing toward him along shore. Under
strict orders from his chieftain not to fight
the ironclads, Grau steered out to sea, and
was rapidly gaining on his pursuers when
he met the other fleet Chilian ironclad,
Cochrane, with the corvette O'Higgins and
armed sloop Loa, steering in to head him
off from escape. Turn which way he would,
either the Cochrane or the Blanco must be
settled with before he could proceed. The
vessels were sister ships of treble the ton
mage and several times the horse power of
the Huascar; they were better armed in
heavy and light cannon and each had two
machine guns. The plate armor of the
Chilians was also almost double the thick
ness of the Huascar's. -...-,
Seeing what was before him Grau or
dered the captain Of the Union to save his
vessel, and in sailing away the Union drew
two of the Chilian corvettes after her,
leaving the ironclads free to deal with the
Huascar.
Grau took his station in the commanders
tower of the ship and opened the fight by
firing his turret gun at the Cochrane, 5000
yards distant. Three shots fell short, and
then one bounded on the water and struck
the Gillian squarely, passing through her
plating. This aroused the Cochrane's com.
mander to reply, and the battle between tho
monsters was fairly opened. The fourth
shct from the Cochrane penetrated the tur.
net chamber Of the Huascar and exploded,
killing or wounding IL of the gums crews
and temporarily disabling the revolving
apparatus.
AT the same moment shot from the
Peruvian ship loosened one of the plates
on the Cochrane: Even this short action
proved that the Huascar was heavily over
matched. Her shots barely penetrated the
Cochrane's plating and went to pieces by
the impact. Her turret revolved by hand,
and the Chilian machine guns were SUI
perfor TO her own. Grau was not the man
to surrender until whipped, however, and
he promptly closed on the Cochrane and
attempted to strike with the ram. Again
the inequality showed itself, for the Chilian
vessel was provided with twin screws and
could turn in half the space required by
the Huascar. Again and again Grau tried
the ram, and soon the ships were within
300 yards, sometimes getting as close as 100
or even so yards. At the shortest range
che machine guns and rifles were zealously
Piled.
All of this time Grau remained in the
tower directing the ships movements, with
the upper half of his person exposed to the
enemy's Shots
AT the end of half an hours firing shell
from the Cochrane penetrated the tower of
the Huascar and exploded inside. Grau
was literally blown to atoms. A leg was
the largest piece of his body that could be
found. His companion in the tower, a
lieutenant, was killed, and the mastery
handling that the vessel had had thus far
in the fight was at an end. About this
time second shell penetrated the turret
and killed and wounded nearly all of the
guns crews, also wounding Capt. Corbajal,
the second in command after Grau fell. To
add to the misfortunes of the Peruvian ship,
the Cochrane's consort, the Blanco Encal-
ada. steamed up to take q hand.