Yelcho (1906)
 Prow of the Yelcho in Puerto Williams | |
| Career (Chile) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Yelcho |
| Owner: | Sociedad Ganadera e Industrial Yelcho y Palena de Puerto Montt (for 2 years) |
| Builder: | George Brown & Company Greenock, Yard No 34, Engines by Muir & Houston, Glasgow |
| Launched: | 23 June 1906 |
| Acquired: | 1908 by the Chilean Navy |
| Commissioned: | 1908 |
| Decommissioned: | 1945 |
| Reinstated: | 1945-1958 as tender ship |
| Honours and awards: | Rescue of the Endurance crew of Ernest Henry Shackleton |
| Fate: | sold to ASMAR |
| Status: | scrapped 1965 |
| Notes: | Bow is in Puerto Williams |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Cutter (boat) |
| Tonnage: | 219 grt[1] |
| Displacement: | 467 t |
| Length: | 120 feet (37 m) |
| Beam: | 23 feet (7.0 m) |
| Depth: | 18.0 feet (5.5 m)[2] |
| Installed power: | 350 hp |
| Propulsion: | compound Muir & Houston Ltd. Glasgow |
| Speed: | 10 knots |
| Crew: | 22 men |
| Armament: | 1 Hotchkiss 37mm Canon |
| Notes: | There are two others Yelcho in the Chilean Navy, Chilean tug Yelcho (AGS-64) and Yelcho (1971). |
The cutter boat Yelcho was built in 1906 by the Scottish firm G. Brown and Co. of Greenock, on the River Clyde for towage and cargo service of the Chilean Sociedad Ganadera e Industrial Yelcho y Palena de Puerto Montt. 1908 she was sold to the Chilean Navy and ordered to Punta Arenas as a tug and for periodic maintenance and supply of the lighthouses of the zone.
The Rescue of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
After the dramatic Voyage of the James Caird, Shackleton had attempted and failed three times to rescue the crew left on Elephant Island: the ships Southern Sky (Loaned by the English Whaling Co., 23–31 May 1916), Instituto de Pesca N°1 (loaned by the Government of Uruguay, 0–16 June 1916) and Emma[3] (a sealer, funded by the British Club. Punta Arenas, 12 July – 8 August 1916) all failed to reach Elephant Island.
In July 1916, the Yelcho was authorised by the president of Chile, Juan Luis Sanfuentes, to escort and tow the Emma to a point 200 miles (320 km) south of Cape Horn.[4] but this third attempt was also unsuccessful.
At dawn on the 7th of August the Yelcho under the command of Captain Luis Pardo was ordered to Port Stanley in order to tug the Emma and the British explorers back to Punta Arenas to make a fourth attempt.
The Chilean government offered the Yelcho although she was totally unsuited for operations in Antarctic waters. With no radio, no proper heating system, no electric lighting and no double hull the small ship had to cross the 500 miles (800 km) of the Drake's Passage in Antarctic winter.
On the 25th of August 1916 at 00:15 she sailed bound for Elephant Island with 22 men under command of Pardo, carrying Shackleton, Frank Worsley and Tom Crean. After making it safely through the complex tides and channels of the west side of the Tierra del Fuego, Yelcho headed out into the Beagle Channel. On the 27th at 11:15 she arrived at Picton Island, where she bunkered 300 sacks of coal (a total of 72 tons were in the ship) from the Puerto Banner Naval Station.[5] The process was completed within only 12 hours and on 28 August at 3:30 she weighed anchor and left for Elephant Island. 60 miles (97 km) south of Cape Horn the lookout spotted the first icebergs[6]
At 11:40 am on the 30th of August the fog lifted, the camp on Elephant Island was spotted, and Yelcho immediately entered the bay. Within an hour, in two trips of a small boat, all the Elephant Island party were safely aboard the Yelcho, which sailed for Punta Arenas.
The 23 crew of the Yelcho that fateful day was:[7]
| Crew | Name |
|---|---|
| Captain | Luis Alberto Pardo Villalón |
| 2nd in Command | León Aguirre Romero |
| Chief Engineer | Jorge L. Valenzuela Mesa |
| 2nd Engineer | Jose Beltrán Gamarra |
| Engineers | Nicolás Muñoz Molina, Manuel Blackwood |
| Firemen | Herbito Cariz Caramo, Juan Vera Jara, Pedro Chaura, Pedro Soto Nuñez, Luis Contreras Castro |
| Guard | Manuel Ojeda, Ladislao Gallego Trujillo, Hipólito Aries, José Leiva Chacón, Antonio Colin Parada |
| Foreman | José Muñoz Tellez |
| Blacksmith | Froilan Cabana Rodríguez |
| Seamen | Pedro Pairo, José del Carmen Galindo, Florentino González Estay, Clodomiro Aguero Soto |
| Cabin Boy | Bautista Ibarra Carvajal |
Aftermath
After the successful rescue mission of 1916 the name Yelcho has been given to streets and ships of Chile, particularly to Chile's southernmost coastal Puerto Williams, and it is there that the prow of the Yelcho has been preserved and is prominently displayed as a tribute to Captain Pardo's ship, his crew.
In 1945 the ship was decommissioned and used as tender in the Petty officer School of the Chilean Navy. On 27 January 1958 was retired by decree 190 and 1962 sold to ASMAR under terms of Law 14.564 (5 May 1954) for 300.000 CLP.[8]
References
- ↑ clydesite.co.uk, Yelcho
- ↑ histamar
- ↑ Emma
- ↑ James Caird Society Shackleton, Piloto Pardo, a reluctant hero, retrieved on 17 April 2012
- ↑ Mateo Martinic, Crónica de las tierras del sur del canal Beagle, page 110. The station had been built short before as response to the sinking of the Norwegian ship Drummuir by British ships.
- ↑ Alfonso M. Filippi Parada, Shackleton versus Pardo, retrieved 15 April 2012
- ↑ John F.Mann, The S.S. Yelcho
- ↑ Website of the Chilean Navy, Yelcho (1906), retrieved on 17 April 1906
See also
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