Battle of Caldera Bay 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 boat s , " 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 two 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 . 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 Messrs . 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 . Battle . At 04 : 00 on 23 April , " Almirante Condell " set out toward Caldera Bay about away , with " Almirante Lynch " behind her . The armed steamer " Imperial " traveled with the torpedo boats , taking up a position to the left of both boats . It was to wait some distance off Caldera , in order to escort the ships back home when the attack ended . Both torpedo boats entered Caldera at roughly 3 : 30 . When they were from " Blanco Encalada " , both boats came under fire by rapid - fire guns on board the frigate . About from " Blanco Encalada " , " Almirante Condell " fired her bow torpedo at the Congressional frigate . It missed and exploded on the shore . Moraga then turned the torpedo boat into the direct fire of the frigate and fired both his starboard torpedoes . The front torpedo hit , but failed to explode , and the rear torpedo passed clear under the frigate . As all of " Blanco Encalada " s guns were occupied by " Almirante Condell " , the crew did not notice " Almirante Lynch " approaching from the same direction as the other torpedo boat . From out , " Almirante Lynch " fired her bow torpedo , which missed , and then fired her forward starboard torpedo after executing a turning maneuver like " Almirante Condell " had done . The second torpedo struck " Blanco Encalada " , creating a hole roughly by . As she was sinking , the torpedo boats fired their 3 - pounder Hotchkiss gun s at the survivors , killing about forty . The torpedo boats also fired at the transport " Biobio " , which had been trying to rescue the surviving crew . Including Captain Goñi , 106 men survived out of the 288 aboard . The entire conflict lasted nine minutes , and " Blanco Encalada " sank two minutes after the torpedo hit . As " Lynch " and " Condell " left the harbor , they spotted the transport " Aconcagua " , which they attacked with their 14 - pounder guns . The " Aconcagua " surrendered after an hour and a half battle , but the torpedo ships were unable to seize her due to an approaching ship which they thought was the Chilean cruiser " Esmeralda " . It turned out to be the neutral HMS " Warspite " . Aftermath and impact on torpedo use . The sinking of " Blanco Encalada " led to an attack by " Almirante Condell " and " Almirante Lynch " on her sister ship , the " Almirante Cochrane " , at that time moored at Iquique . " Almirante Cochrane " retreated before any torpedoes were fired . On 28 August , the Balmacedist army was defeated at the Battle of La Placilla . Their army lost about 1 , 000 men , and three days later Congressional forces marched into Santiago , effectively ending the Chilean Civil War . The battle had a wider impact on naval weapons development because " Blanco Encalada " was the first ironclad warship sunk by a self - propelled torpedo . News of the attack spread and as a result of the action , navies of several major powers realized the potential of torpedoes , which led to the acceleration of submarine and torpedo boat production , the addition of torpedo nets to ships for use when they were moored in port , and the addition of torpedo tubes to surface ships . During the Russo - Japanese War , over 300 self - propelled torpedoes were fired , in one instance finishing off the already seriously damaged Russian flagship " Knyaz Suvorov " at the Battle of Tsushima . Torpedo boats also sank two armored cruiser s and two destroyer s during the course of the war .