The torpedo gunboat ''Almirante Lynch'' and her
sister ship , were purchased in England and launched in 1890.
Design
The vessels had a high forecastle and poop, and a ram on the bow. the hulls were steel. The principal armament was five
Whitehead torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
tubes, one in the bow and two in each broadside. They also had two
12-pounder guns in echelon on the forecastle and one on the poop, four
3-pounder guns, and two machine guns.
[New York Times: Battle of Caldera Bay]
/ref>
Service history
''Almirante Lynch'' was part of the small force of ships at disposal of President José Manuel Balmaceda
José Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández (; July 19, 1840 – September 19, 1891) served as the 10th President of Chile from September 18, 1886, to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile. While he was ...
in the 1891 Chilean Civil War. During the war, on April 23, 1891, ''Almirante Lynch'' and her sister ship ''Almirante Condell'' attacked and sank the rebel ironclad frigate . Early in April a portion of the revolutionary squadron, comprising ''Blanco Encalada'' and other ships, was sent southward for reconnoitering purposes and put into the port of Caldera
A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...
. During the night of April 23, and whilst ''Blanco Encalada'' was lying quietly at anchor in Caldera Bay, ''Almirante Lynch'', belonging to the Balmaceda faction, steamed into the bay of Caldera and discharged a torpedo at the rebel ship. ''Blanco Encalada'' sank in a few minutes and 300 of her crew perished. This coup severely weakened the Congressional squadron. This was the first successful torpedo attack on a warship.
After the arrival of the destroyer the torpedo gunboat was renamed ''Tomas''.[Chilean Navy sit]
Almirante Lynch
, retrieved on 5 November 2012
See also
*
* Sinking of USS ''Housatonic''
* South American dreadnought race
A naval arms race among Argentina, Brazil and Chile—the wealthiest and most powerful countries in South America—began in the early twentieth century when the Brazilian government ordered three dreadnoughts, formidable battleships whose ca ...
* List of decommissioned ships of the Chilean Navy
The list of decommissioned ships of the Chilean Navy is mostly compiled from information given in the website of thChilean Navy It consists of over 500 ''historical units'' including ships of the Patria Vieja, prizes, fireships, armed merchant ...
References
External links
* Chilean Navy sit
''Almirante Lynch''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almirante Lynch
1890 ships
Almirante Lynch-class torpedo gunboats