Battle of Pacocha


The Battle of Pacocha was a naval battle that took place on 29 May 1877 between the rebel-held Peruvian monitor Huáscar and the British ships and. The vessels did not inflict significant damage on each other, however the battle is notable for seeing the first combat use of the torpedo.

Background

In May 1877, Nicolás de Piérola, former Minister of Finance initiated an attempt to overthrow then Peruvian President Mariano Ignacio Prado. As part of this coup attempt, on the 6th of May two of his supporters, Colonel Lorranaga and Major Echenique boarded the Huáscar at the port of Callao while the captain and executive officer where ashore. Officers remaining on the ship were part of the plot and persuaded the crew to join their cause. Now in rebel hands, the Huáscar put to sea with Luis Germán Astete in command. Other Peruvian naval ships present in the port, such as the Atahualpa were in a state of disrepair and unable to pursue.
The rebels used the ship to harass commercial shipping especially off El Callao, the main commercial port of Peru. However, after she forcibly boarded some British merchant ships, British authorities sent Rear Admiral Algernon de Horsey to capture the vessel.

Battle

The Peruvian warship managed to escape after a fierce exchange of fire. Huáscars guns were undermanned, and she fired just 40 rounds. Shahs mast was damaged by splinters. On the British side, Shah fired 237 shots and Amethyst 190, but none of them carried armour-piercing ammunition. Huáscar was hit 60 times, but her armour shield caused all the shots to harmlessly bounce off. There was a last-ditch effort mounted to sink the rebel warship when two small torpedo rams from Shah attempted to torpedo the Huáscar, but the Peruvian ship managed to escape under the cover of darkness. The rebel crew was forced to surrender their ship to the Peruvian government just two days later.
This battle saw the first use of the newly invented self-propelled torpedo which, at the time, had just entered limited service with the Royal Navy. The torpedo was dodged by the rebel monitor.