Battle of Angamos The Battle of Angamos ( Combate naval de Angamos ) was fought on October 8 , 1879 , during the naval stage of the War of the Pacific ( Guerra del Pacífico ) . The Chilean Navy , commanded by Captain Galvarino Riveros and Captain Juan Jose Latorre surrounded and captured the ironclad " Huáscar " , commanded by Rear Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario , who died in combat . After the battle , the crippled Peruvian Navy was unable to prevent the invasion of its territory . The " Huascar " was repaired and served under the Chilean flag until its decommission , and now sits as a floating museum in the port of Talcahuano . Background . After the Naval Battle of Iquique , the Peruvian ironclad " Huascar " made several incursions into Chilean waters , challenging the Chilean navy ' s domination along its entire coast ; the " Huascar " attacked ports and captured transports . Chile ' s plan was to achieve naval supremacy prior to invading Bolivian and / or Peruvian territory to establish the logistic advantage needed to launch a terrestrial campaign . No attempt to disembark troops could be made by the Chileans , because the " Huascar " was preventing the entire Chilean Navy from taking control of the sea ; the Chilean fleet was in a diminished state of readiness after a long campaign away from its base . In order to initiate the naval stage of the compaign the " Huascar " had to be eliminated or captured . The Chilean government accelerated their naval campaign to secure the logistic support for the planned land invasion of Peru . On September 20 , the Chilean fleet sailed north , escorting an important convoy with troops bound for Antofagasta . Once at the port of Mejillones , Captain Galvarino Riveros reorganized the fleet into two divisions : Ironclad : Commodore Galvarino Riveros Ironclad : Commander Juan Jose LatorreCorvette " O ’ Higgins " : Lt . Captain Jorge Montt AlvarezTransport " Loa " : Lt . Captain Javier Molinas Gacitua . Chilean strategy . Commander in Chief Galvarino Riveros on October 1 summoned his officers to a council , where it was decided to hunt down the Peruvian vessel at Arica . The same day Grau in his flagship " Huascar " gave orders to sail along the Chilean coast as far south as Coquimbo , accompanied by the corvette " Union " . Because the Chilean fleet sailed close to the shore and the Peruvian fleet was farther out in the open sea , the formations passed in opposite directions without seeing each other . Chilean Minister of War Sotomayor conceived a plan that called for Latorre ’ s division to cruise perpendicular to the coast at Mejillones , while Riveros ’ division sailed to Antofagasta to observe and to defend the city . So , if the " Huascar " tried to attack the port , it would be surrounded by the " Blanco Encalada " and the heavier warships . On the other hand , if Grau passed by , Riveros could follow , keeping him from escaping southward and forcing the Peruvian admiral northward toward Latorre ' s division . In Mejillones , on October 7 , a plan was approved to deceive the Peruvian ships . Riveros would wait for Grau at Antofagasta while Latorre would set up an east - west barrier - like formation about twenty miles ( 36 km ) from shore . If Riveros spotted the " Huascar " , he would follow and keep it from retreating to the south until Latorre engaged the Peruvian fleet . During the night the Peruvian warships were sailing off the Chilean coast northward toward Arica when they saw the light of Antofagasta . Admiral Grau decided to engage any Chilean vessel in port , intending to inflict some damage . At 01 : 10 hrs on October 8 , the " Huascar " searched the bay without encountering any targets . She came up with the " Union " at 03 : 00 hrs , and the two warships resumed their northward heading . At the same hour lookouts on the Chilean " Blanco Encalada " saw two smoke columns on the horizon . Simultaneously , Grau was informed that there were three columns of smoke to the north ; he decided to investigate . Both fleets spotted each other and the Peruvian ships turned back to the south . Riveros ordered a reduction in speed of the Chilean ships to make Grau think it was possible to turn back north and sail for Peru . At 05 : 40 hrs indeed the two Peruvian ships began to slowly turn once again to the north . The " Blanco Encalada " increased speed and began closing on the Peruvians to discourage Grau from again turning back to the south . At 07 : 15 hrs , steaming northward , the two Peruvian vessels spotted smoke columns ahead ; it was Latorre ’ s division approaching . Since the Peruvian " Union " could manage 13 knots , she was able to sail northeastward and escape , but the " Huascar " had to stay the course and fight The Struggle . Off Punta Angamos at 09 : 25 hrs the " Huascar " opened fire over the " Cochrane " , but the latter did not return fire trying to get closer . After reaching her effective cannon range of 2 , 200 meters 15 minutes later , the " Cochrane " began to shell the Peruvian ironclad . One of these shots pierced the " Huascar ' s " turret , wounding the twelve crew members manning the 300 - pound cannons . Another shot perforated the armour just above the " Huascar ' s " waterline , cutting her left rudder chain and leaving her temporarily adrift . The " Huascar " now was listing hard to starboard and was hampered also by a deformation in the hull acquired when she rammed the " Esmeralda " during their engagement at Iquique five months earlier . Barely ten minutes later an emergency rudder had been set by the " Huascar ' s " crew . At 10 : 00 hrs another shell from the " Cochrane " hit the " Huascar " , piercing the bridge cabin and killing Admiral Grau and his adjunct , Diego Ferre . Command then fell to Captain Elías Aguirre . The explosion also shattered the vessel ' s rudder wheel . Lt . Captain Gaona ’ s gunners caused heavy casualties among the Peruvian crew : the Chileans were using Palliser type armor - piercing rounds , which exploded right after penetrating the hull . At 10 : 10 , the " Huascar " flag was brought down from its hoist by the intense gunfire . Latorre ordered a halt to the fire , thinking that the ship was surrendered . However , the monitor kept his pace and within minutes an unidentified officer hoisted again , resuming the combat . Meanwhile , the " Huascar " crew had again repaired the rudder wheel . At 10 : 22 hrs , with the " Blanco Encalada " and the " Covadonga " at close range , a shot from the " Blanco Encalada " , perforated the " Huascar ' s " artillery tower , killing almost all of the sailors within and damaging the rightmost cannon . Another shot , from the " Cochrane " , passed through the officers ' quarters and wrecked the emergency rudder station , which had been disabled already twice before . The " Huascar " now could sail only in a wide semicircle to starboard . Once rudder control was regained , Captain Aguirre of the " Huascar " tried to ram the " Cochrane " . Latorre was also manoeuvring to ram the " Huascar " , but the Peruvian ironclad , whose steering was again enabled , suddenly veered to port and both ships passed by each other . Another shell pierced the " Huascar ' s " artillery tower 12 minutes later , killing all within , including Captain Aguirre . Command of the ship went to Lt . Pedro Garezon , who in conference with the remaining officers decided to scuttle the ship rather than allow it to be captured . At 10 : 54 hrs the order was given to evacuate the wounded from the engine room and open the main condensator to scuttle the ship and hence prevent its capture . At 10 : 55 hrs " Huascar " flag was brought down for a second time . The Chilean warships , noticing that the " Huascar " was decreasing speed , mustered their boarding parties . At 11 : 08 hrs , 14 to 20 Chileans sailors boarded the " Huascar " , without encountering any resistance . They closed the main condensator water leaks ( with 1 . 2 meters of water in the engine room ) and extinguished several fires while the now captured Peruvian crew was being transported to the Chilean vessels as prisoners of war . Consequences . With capture of the " Huascar " , plus the previous neutralization of the " Independencia " at Punta Gruesa , firepower of the Peruvian Navy was drastically reduced , bringing the sea campaign of the War of the Pacific to an end . From now on , the Chilean Navy was able to use the " Huascar " as one of its own ships . The decisive victory at Angamos allowed the Chilean Army to freely decide the course of action to attack the Allies , and the land invasion of Peru and Bolivia began .