Schooner Virjen de Covadonga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Covadonga at berth in Valparaiso, Chile |
|
| Career (Spain) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Virjen de Covadonga |
| Ordered: | June 10, 1857 |
| Builder: | Arsenal de la Carrara shipyard (Cádiz, Spain) |
| Cost: | 5.000.000 Reales de Vellón |
| Laid down: | February 13, 1858 |
| Launched: | November 28, 1859 |
| Commissioned: | October 8, 1859 |
| Captured: | Battle of Papudo, November 26, 1865 |
| Fate: | Captured by Chilean Navy during the Chincha Islands War |
| Career (Chile) |  |
| Name: | Virjen de Covadonga |
| Commissioned: | December 4, 1865 |
| Fate: | Sunk by a mine in Chancay, Peru during the War of the Pacific, September 13, 1880 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | screw-propelled schooner |
| Tons burthen: | 630 tons |
| Length: | 107 ft (33 m) |
| Propulsion: | 160 CV (120 kW) steam engine made in the Factory Nº 4, El Ferrol 1-shaft |
| Sail plan: | Brigantine sail rigging |
| Speed: | 7 kn (13 km/h) on steam |
| Complement: | 110 crewman |
| Armament: |
2 70-pounder (200 mm) revolving guns |
| Notes: | (*) Installed after May 21, 1879 |
The schooner Virjen de Covadonga (1859) was a historical ship that participated in the Chincha Islands War and the War of the Pacific, under Spanish and Chilean flags.
Contents |
[edit] Construction
It was ordered by Royal Order of June 10, 1857. Its keel was laid at the Arsenal de la Carrara in Cádiz, Spain, on February 13, 1858. She was launched on November 28, 1859.
The Covadonga was a wooden ship fitted with a steam propulsion, commissioned by Royal Command of October 8, 1858 at a total cost of 5 million Reales de Vellón. Its first commander was Lieutenant Evaristo Casariego y García. It was originally destined as a mail boat between Manila and Hong Kong, with its berth at the Naval Base of Manila, in the Philippine Islands.
The ship was named after the Battle of Covadonga - a highly symbolic event in Spanish history, being considered the beginning of the Reconquista.
[edit] Chincha Islands War service
During the Chincha Islands War, the Covadonga served as an auxiliary ship to the Spanish fleet. It was captured by the Chilean corvette Esmeralda under the command of captain Juan Williams Rebolledo, during the Naval Battle of Papudo, on November 26, 1865. Its capture caused the suicide of Spanish Admiral Juan Manuel Pareja.
The Covadonga was commissioned into the Chilean navy on December 4, 1865, keeping its original name. During this war, it also participated at the Naval Battle of Abtao.
[edit] War of the Pacific service
During the War of the Pacific, the Covadonga together with the Esmeralda, as the oldest and slowest ships of the Chilean navy, were left behind to blockade the port of Iquique. There they participated in the most important naval battles of the war.
The Esmeralda faced the Huascar at the Naval Battle of Iquique, and the Covadonga manage to escape from the persecution of the Peruvian ironclad Independencia when the later collide with a submerged rock and sank, after trying to ram the schooner; in the so called Naval Battle of Punta Gruesa, both on May 21, 1879.
[edit] Fate
On September 13, 1880, while enforcing a blockade in the port of Chancay, Peru, the sailors of the Covadonga saw a beautiful boat being carried unmanned by the currents and loaded with fresh fruits and produce. While trying to lift it, it exploded, being a floating mine. The ship sunk in less than 10 minutes.
In the disaster, out of the 109 men of the crew, the commander Captain Pablo Ferrari and 32 sailors died, while 29 were rescued by the gun-boat Pilcomayo, and 48 were captured by the Peruvians. Among the dead was petty officer Constantino Micalvi, a survivor from the Naval Battle of Iquique.
