Battle of Cape Horn (2156)

Caption about image provided

Casualties| * BAPB Cusco critically damaged
* 8 Sailors KIA
* 17 Sailors Injured
* ARA La Plata mildly damaged
* ARA Salta sunk
* ARA Patagonia sunk
* ARA Pampa sunk
* 298 Argentine sailors KIA, MIA, or injured

The **Battle of Cape Horn** was a naval skirmish between the Argentine Navy, and Peru-Bolivian Navy. The battle was short fought but ended in a decisive Peru-Bolivian victory. Occurring on March 13th, 2156, and ending March 14th, 2156, this was the first major battle of the Peru-Bolivian conquest of Argentina and part of Operation Relámpago Negro; Peru-Bolivia's offensive into Southern Latin America.

## Background

Prior to the battle, Peru-Bolivia had been building up its navy for decades in an attempt to outpace the Brazilian Navy, Peru-Bolivia's main rival. This has led to Peru-Bolivia's admirals being well trained, and its navy well-funded. A young upcoming third generation German immigrant named Konrad Schubert had recently been promoted, and with a war in Argentina looking likely as Peru-Bolivia aimed to enlarge its sphere, Schubert was tasked with creating a plan to secure naval dominance.

## The Battle

### Phase 1 - The First Encounter

As night began to fall, at roughly 8:00pm UTC -3, a task force comprised of 3 Peru-Bolivian cruisers, the *BAPB Lima, BAPB Peruviana,* and the *BAPB Conquistador* all set sail to go around South America and scout out the situation. At 10:00 UTC -3, the task force encountered the Argentine Navy. Initially, the Peruviana shot a volley from her 127mm/54 guns. However, this was miscalculated, and the shot missed entirely, giving time for the Argentine Navy to return fire. In a stroke of luck, the Argentine cruiser *ARA Buenos Aires'* guided missile system suffered a failure on launch. The Lima then narrowly misses what could have been a direct hit to the Buenos Aires. After this, the Peruvian navy turned back to regroup. The Argentine fleet soon followed, unaware that they were being led into a trap.

### Phase 2 - Peru-Bolivia Regroups

After following the Peru-Bolivian Navy for roughly 25 minutes, they soon learned why they had turned back. Six destroyers from the Peru-Bolivian navy had shown up to reinforce the cruiser task force. The *BAPB* *Cusco* opened fire with her guided missile system, and damaged the Argentine destroyer, *ARA La Plata*. The La Plata soon returned fire but missed and was forced to flee after suffering mild damage. After The Lima missed another shot, they soon moved closer to the Argentine fleet for better accuracy. Both sides would trade fire, but due to the pitch-black darkness of the night, both sides missed.

### Phase 3 - The Antofagasta Arrives

Answering the calls for distress, the Peru-Bolivian carrier *BAPB Antofagasta*, had arrived. Bombers were launched from the Antofagasta almost immediately after its arrival, and they soon destroyed the *ARA Salta,* an Argentine Destroyer. After this, an Argentine cruiser opened fire with its guided missiles, and struck the Cusco, critically damaging it. The Cusco then fled the battle to prevent capsizing. The Argentines fired another volley, but to no avail. The conquistador would then fire off what proved to be a critical hit. A guided missile volley that sunk both the *ARA Pampas,* and *ARA Patagonia,* as well as damaged the Buenos Aries. The Argentine Navy then fled the battle, resulting in a decisive Peru-Bolivian victory.

## Casualties

### **Peru-Bolivian Losses**

The *BAPB Cusco* was critically damaged after the battle and was forced to retreat and repair. In all, 8 sailors were killed and 17 were injured on the Cusco.

### Argentine Losses

The Argentine fleet was critically damaged from the battle. The Salta, Pampas, and Patagonia- all of which were destroyers- were sunk in the battle. I addition, the La Plata and Buenos Aries were mildly damaged. Nearly 300 Argentine sailors were killed, injured, or went missing in all. A devastating loss for Argentina.

## Aftermath

After the battle, it was clear that Peru-Bolivia would retain naval superiority for the war. This also kickstarted the career of Schubert, who would later go on to see action elsewhere. The Argentine navy would never recover from this decisive blow, and would only see one more battle in the war.