Battle of Angamos 1879
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate. Wikidata lists more than one location for this battle; the first is shown.
Key facts
| Date | 8 October 1879 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1879 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Nearest landmass | At sea (nearest continent: South America) | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | South America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | War of the Pacific | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | -23.0000, -71.0000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Angamos (Spanish: Combate Naval de Angamos) was a naval encounter of the War of the Pacific fought between the navies of Chile and Perú at Punta Angamos, on 8 October 1879. The battle was the culminating point of a naval campaign that lasted about five months in which the Chilean Navy had the sole mission of eliminating its Peruvian counterpart. In the struggle, two armored frigates, led by Commodore Galvarino Riveros Cárdenas and Navy Captain Juan José Latorre battered and later captured the Peruvian monitor Huáscar, under Rear Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario.
After the loss of the frigate Independencia at Punta Gruesa, Grau sought to challenge the outnumbering Chilean fleet with a harassing strategy, focused on inflicting as much damage as possible while avoiding a full-scale engagement. As Grau moved along the Pacific coast, he was chased by Admiral John Williams Rebolledo, who had been ordered to catch Grau no matter what. His failure cost him his commission, and was replaced by Riveros.
With a different strategy, Riveros managed to encircle Grau at Punta Angamos, about 80 kilometers north of Antofagasta. Falling in a trap set by Riveros and Latorre, Grau was forced to present battle after ordering the corvette Unión to escape to Perú.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Angamos (revision 1378713943), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Battle of Río Grande 1879 · 288 km
- Battle of Tambillo 1879 · 299 km
- Blockade of Iquique 1879 · 322 km
- Battle of Iquique 1879 · 323 km
Other battles of the War of the Pacific
- Battle of Iquique 1879
- Battle of Pampa Germania 1879
- Battle of Pisagua 1879
- Battle of Quillagua 1879
- Battle of Río Grande 1879
- Battle of San Francisco 1879
- Battle of Tambillo 1879
- Blockade of Iquique 1879
- Battle of Buenavista 1880
- Battle of Locumba 1880
All 16 battles of the War of the Pacific →
Browse more: battles at sea · South America · 19th century battles