View source for Chilean corvette Esmeralda

{{other ships|Chilean ship Esmeralda}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image=[[File:Corbeta Esmeralda.jpg|300px|Corbeta Esmeralda]]
| Ship caption=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header=
| Ship country= Chile
| Ship flag= {{Shipboxflag|Chile|naval}}
| Ship name= ''Esmeralda''
| Ship namesake= {{Ship||Esmeralda|1791}}
| Ship ordered=30 June 1852 
| Ship awarded=23 October 1854
| Ship builder=William Pitcher, [[Northfleet]], England 
| Ship original cost=£23,000
| Ship yard number=
| Ship way number=
| Ship laid down=December 1854
| Ship launched=26 June 1855 
| Ship sponsor=
| Ship christened=
| Ship completed=
| Ship acquired=
| Ship commissioned=18 September 1855
| Ship decommissioned=
| Ship maiden voyage=
| Ship in service=
| Ship out of service=
| Ship refit=
| Ship struck=
| Ship reinstated=
| Ship homeport=
| Ship identification=
| Ship motto=  
| Ship nickname=
| Ship honours=
| Ship fate= Sunk, 21 May 1879
| Ship notes=
| Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header=
| Header caption=
| Ship type=[[Steam corvette]]
| Ship tonnage=
| Ship displacement= 
| Ship tons burthen= 854 {{frac|77|94}} tons [[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]]
| Ship length=*{{Convert|210|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|o/a]] (excluding [[bowsprit]])
*{{Convert|180|ft|m|abbr=on}} ([[Length between perpendiculars|p/p]])
*{{Convert|166|ft|m|abbr=on}} ([[keel]])
| Ship beam= {{Convert|32|ft|abbr=on}} 
| Ship height=
| Ship draught= 
| Ship depth= 
| Ship hold depth= {{Convert|18|ft|abbr=on}} 
| Ship decks=
| Ship deck clearance=
| Ship power=
| Ship propulsion=*4 × coal-fired boilers
*2 × horizontal condensing [[marine steam engine|steam engines]]
*{{Convert|200|ihp|0|abbr=on}} at 31 [[Revolutions per minute|rpm]]
*Single [[Propeller (marine)|screw]]
| Ship sail plan= [[Full-rigged ship]]
| Ship speed= {{Convert|8|kn|lk=in}} (under steam)
| Ship range= 
| Ship endurance=
| Ship boats=
| Ship complement=200
| Ship armament=* ''As built''
* 20 × 32-pounder [[Naval long gun|long guns]]
* 2 × 12-pounder guns
* ''From 1868''
* 12 × Armstrong 40-pounder rifled guns
* 4 × Whitworth 40-pounder smoothbore guns

| Ship armour=
| Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox service record
| is_ship=yes
| label= 
| partof=
| codes=
| commanders=*[[Robert Winthrop Simpson]]
*[[Juan Williams Rebolledo]]
*[[Arturo Prat Chacón]]
| operations=*[[Chincha Islands War]]
*[[War of the Pacific]]
| victories=
| awards=
}}
|}
'''''Esmeralda''''' was a wooden-hulled [[steam corvette]] of the [[Chilean Navy]], launched in 1855, and sunk by the {{Ship|Peruvian ironclad|Huáscar||2|up=yes}} on 21 May 1879 at the [[Battle of Iquique]] during the [[War of the Pacific]].

==Ship history==

===Construction===
Construction of the ship was authorized on 30 June 1852 by President [[Manuel Montt]] and the Minister of War and Navy [[José Francisco Gana]]. Chilean naval officer [[Robert Winthrop Simpson|Roberto Simpson Winthrop]] and shipbuilder William Pitcher of [[Northfleet]], England, signed a contract for her construction, at a total cost of £23,000, on 23 October 1854.<ref name="campos">{{cite journal |last=Campos Arizabalo |first=Pedro |year=2009 |title=La Gloriosa Esmeralda : Algunas Precisiones Históricas |trans-title=The Glorious Esmeralda: Some Historical Clarifications |journal=Revista de Marina |issue=3 |pages=287–299 |location=Chile |language=es, en |format=PDF |access-date=23 July 2012 |url=http://www.revistamarina.cl/revistas/2009/3/campos.pdf }}</ref>

The ship was laid down in December 1854, and launched on 26 June 1855 under the name ''Esmeralda'',<ref name="campos"/> after [[Esmeralda (1791)|the frigate captured]] by [[Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald|Thomas Cochrane]] during the [[Chilean War of Independence]].<ref name="campos"/>{{failed verification|article does not give a namesake and has a different launching date|date=April 2021}}

Her hull was of wood, and [[Copper sheathing|coppered]]. She was {{Convert|210|ft|m|abbr=on}} in length overall (excluding the [[bowsprit]]), with a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{Convert|32|ft|m|abbr=on}} and a depth of {{Convert|18|ft|m|abbr=on}}. Four coal-fired boilers powered two horizontal condensing [[marine steam engine|steam engines]] rated at {{convert|200|ihp|lk=in}}, which gave the ship a speed of up to {{Convert|8|kn|lk=in}} under power.<ref name="Bentos">{{cite web |url= http://www.bentos.cl/ |title=Corbeta Esmeralda (Armada de Chile) |work=bentos.cl |year=2012 |access-date=23 July 2012|language=es}}</ref> The single propeller could be decoupled and raised when under sail. The [[Ship's company|ship's complement]] was 200.<ref name="rutaschile">{{cite web |url=http://www.rutaschile.com/eng/men1/Atractivos.php?n=Corbeta-Esmeralda.php&d=6 |title=Corvette Esmeralda |work=rutaschile.com |year=2012 |access-date=23 July 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Service history===
''Esmeralda'' was commissioned into the [[Chilean Navy]] on 18 September 1855,<ref name="Bentos"/> and eventually sailed from [[Falmouth, Cornwall]], under Simpson's command and arrived at [[Valparaíso]] on 7 November 1856.<ref name="rutaschile"/>

On 26 November 1865, during the [[Chincha Islands War]], while under the command of [[Juan Williams Rebolledo]], she captured the {{Ship|Spanish schooner|Virgen de Covadonga||2|up=yes}} at the [[Battle of Papudo]].<ref name="armada">{{cite web |url=http://www.armada.cl/the-name-esmeralda/prontus_armada/2009-10-13/185957.html |title=The "Esmeralda" |work=Chilean Navy |year=2012 |access-date=23 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105182430/http://www.armada.cl/the-name-esmeralda/prontus_armada/2009-10-13/185957.html |archive-date=5 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Her original armament of twenty [[32-pounder gun|32-pounder guns]] was replaced in 1867–68 with twelve Armstrong rifled 40-pounders and four Whitworth [[smoothbore]] 40-pounders.<ref name="rutaschile"/>

On 24 May 1875, ''Esmeralda'' was driven ashore and severely damaged in a gale at Valparaíso.<ref name=LM030675>{{Cite news |title=Shipping |newspaper=Liverpool Mercury |location=Liverpool |date=3 June 1875 |issue=8541 }}</ref> In 1877 she sailed to [[Easter Island]] and [[Tahiti]] on a training voyage.<ref name="rutaschile"/>
[[File:Combate Naval Iquique-Thomas Somerscales.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Painting by [[Thomas Somerscales]] of the sinking of ''Esmeralda'' by ''Huáscar'' during the Battle of Iquique]]
On 21 May 1879, during the [[War of the Pacific]], ''Esmeralda'' engaged the {{Ship|Peruvian ironclad|Huáscar||2|up=yes}} in the [[Battle of Iquique]]. Despite the material superiority of the Peruvian ship, the battle lasted for over three hours. The captain of ''Esmeralda'', [[Arturo Prat]], was killed while leading an attempt to board the enemy vessel, and ''Huáscar'' eventually sank ''Esmeralda'' after repeated ramming. <ref name="armada"/>

==Museum Corbeta Esmeralda==
In [[Iquique]], a replica of ''Esmeralda'' as she was on 20 May 1879<ref>{{cite web |url=http://museoesmeralda.cl/images/stories/english_version_dyptic_corvette_esmeralda_museum.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101031123/http://museoesmeralda.cl/images/stories/english_version_dyptic_corvette_esmeralda_museum.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 November 2013 |title=Corvette Esmeralda Museum |work=Museo Corbeta Esmeralda |year=2012 |access-date=23 July 2012 }}</ref> was opened as a [[museum ship]] on 20 May 2011 by President [[Sebastián Piñera]], including the descendants of Arturo Prat.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.santiagotimes.cl/culture/arts/21529-corbeta-esmeralda-museum-opens-in-iquique |title=Corbeta Esmeralda Museum Opens In Iquique |first=Kendra |last=Ablaza |work=[[The Santiago Times]] |date=22 May 2011 |access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref>

The museum corresponds on the representation of 1:1 scale of the major departments in ''Esmeralda''.
{{-}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite journal|last1=Adamson|first1=Robert E.|last2=de St. Hubert|first2=Christian|year=1991 |title=Question 12/89|journal=Warship International|volume=XXVIII |issue=2 |pages=199–205 |issn=0043-0374|name-list-style=amp}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |url= http://museoesmeralda.cl/ |title=Museo Corbeta Esmeralda }}

{{coord|20|10|16|S|70|09|00|W|source:kolossus-eswiki|display=title}}

{{1875 shipwrecks}}
{{1879 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esmeralda}}
[[Category:1855 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Northfleet]]
[[Category:Steam corvettes of the Chilean Navy]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1875]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1879]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the War of the Pacific]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Chile]]