Battle of Pacocha

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Incident of Pacocha

Battle of Pacocha
Date May 29, 1877
Location SE Pacific Ocean
Result
Belligerents
Britain Peruvian rebels
Commanders
de Horsey Astete
Strength
1 ironclad ship: HMS Shah,

1 wooden ship: HMS Amethyst

1 ironclad ship: Huáscar

The naval Incident of Pacocha took place on 6 May 1877 when Nicolas de Pierola was leading a revolution to overthrow then Peruvian President Mariano Ignacio Prado. Piérola used the Peruvian monitor Huáscar as a raiding ship. It practiced sabotage primarily against the government forces of Peru. However, after it intercepted some British merchant ships, the British sent Rear Admiral de Horsey to capture the vessel. The Peruvian vessel managed to escape the battle under the cover of darkness, but was forced to surrender to the Peruvian government just 2 days later.

This battle saw the first use in anger of the newly-invented self-propelled torpedo which, at the time, had just entered limited service with the Royal Navy.

[edit] External links