Battle of Callao

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Battle of Callao

Spanish ships exchange fire with Peruvian coastal defences at the Battle of Callao .

Date	May 2, 1866
Location	Callao
Result	Indecisive

Combatants

Spain

Peru and allies

Commanders

Casto Méndez Núñez

Mariano Ignacio Prado

Strength

1 ironclad
4 frigates
1 corvette
(approx 250 guns)

5 gunboats
65 guns
3,000 infantry and cavalry

Casualties

43 dead
157 wounded

200 dead
100 wounded

Chincha Islands War
Papudo – Abtao – Callao

The Battle of Callao (in Spanish, sometimes called el Combate del Dos de Mayo in South America, or Guerra del Pacífico in Spain) occurred on May 2, 1866 between a Spanish fleet under the command of Admiral Casto Méndez Núñez and a combined alliance of Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and Ecuador during the Chincha Islands War. It bombarded the port of Callao (or El Callao), but eventually withdrew without any major damage to the city.

[edit] Background

President Juan Antonio Pezet assumed the presidency of Peru in April 1863, at a time when Spain was making efforts to recover its lost American colonies. Spain began its campaign by seizing the Chincha Islands, which were rich in guano, and demanding indemnity as recompense for the murder of two Spanish citizens in Lambayeque.

Vacillating, President Pezet began removing vast quantities of Peru's guano deposits to give to Spain when Spanish ships threatened Callao and the neighboring coastline. Pezet believed that Peru’s naval forces were much too weak to challenge Spain’s. In November 1865, Colonel Mariano Ignacio Prado seized power from Pezet. Prado organized an effective defense against Spanish aggression that culminated with the Battle of Callao.[1]

After the indecisive Battle of Abtao in February 1866, Méndez Núñez decided to take punitive action against South American ports, his first target being the undefended Chilean port of Valparaíso. The neutral British and American naval commanders in Chilean waters were unable to prevent this action, and the Spanish bombarded the town and destroyed the Chilean merchant fleet. When Hugh Judson Kirlpatrick, United States minister to Chile, asked the American naval commander Commodore John Rodgers to attack the Spanish fleet, Méndez Núñez responded with, "I will be forced to sink [the US ships], because even if I have one ship left I will proceed with the bombardment. Spain, the Queen and I prefer honor without ships than ships without honor."

Méndez Núñez proceeded with his fleet towards the better-defended Peruvian port of Callao and arrived by April 25.

[edit] Battle

The battle was characterized by arduous, long-range combat with ironclads utilized by both sides. Observing were American and British ships.

The Spaniards arrived at Callao, on April 25, with 14 ships (which included 6 frigates and 1 corvette), with nearly 250 guns of different caliber. The Spanish ships were Numancia (the first ironclad to circumnavigate the world, arriving in Cádiz on Sept. 20th, 1867, and earning the motto: Enloricata navis que primo terram circuivit), Reina Blanca, Restauración, Berenguela, Villa de Madrid, Vencedora, and Almansa.

Prado mobilized the military and the townspeople. The strong Callao forts and batteries, which had once repelled Sir Francis Drake and John Hawkins, he reinforced with heavy British-made guns such as the Blakely. Four Armstrong guns were placed in two armoured turrets, "Junín" and "La Merced", the armour consisting in a 10 cm thick iron belt. New defenses and forts were built in the city, and the Peruvians had a total of 52 guns and 13 additional guns mounted on harbor warships (Colon, Tumbes, Sachaca). Peru also had the Confederate-style casemated ram ironclads Loa and Victoria, as well as some infantry and cavalry. Some electrically detonated mines were deployed by the Peruvians but the devices became useless when one of the Spanish frigates inadvertently dragged away the cable while sailing between the minefield and the shore.

The Spanish fleet, forming a V-shaped line of attack, had the Numancia fire the first two shots but was hit by a Peruvian grenade. The combat became heavier over time, with Spanish ships suffering from heavy fire. Peruvian guns scored 185 hits on the enemy ships. After silencing enemy batteries the Spanish withdrew to San Lorenzo Island to bury their dead and to repair damages. Nearly 50 Spanish sailors were killed and 83 were wounded. Commander Méndez Núñez was injured nine times. Peruvians suffered about 200 casualties between dead and wounded. Because of Spanish fire damages on the port were heavy. Most batteries were put out of action, including one of the armoured turrets, "La Merced", which blew up. The explosion killed the Peruvian War Minister, Colonel Gálvez.

Sub-lieutenant Patricio Montojo y Pasarón, later to become an admiral and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Navy in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War, participated in this battle from the frigate Almansa.

Peru still celebrates the second of May as a holiday.

With Chile prosperous and in the ascendancy, the South American powers subsequently turned against one another in the War of the Pacific.