Chilean cruiser Esmeralda (1896)

For the earlier cruiser sold to Japan, see Chilean cruiser Esmeralda (1883).

Cruiser Esmeralda
History
Chile
Name	Esmeralda
Namesake	Esmeralda (1791)
Ordered	15 May 1895
Builder	Armstrong Mitchell and Co. Ltd, Elswick
Laid down	4 July 1895
Launched	14 April 1896
Commissioned	4 September 1896
Decommissioned	1930
Fate	Scrapped 1930
General characteristics
Type	Armoured cruiser
Displacement	7,032 long tons (7,145 t)
Length	436 ft (132.89 m) pp 468 ft 3 in (142.72 m) oa
Beam	52 ft 5 in (15.98 m)
Draft	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Installed power	16,000 ihp (12,000 kW) (natural draft) 18,000 ihp (13,000 kW) (forced draft)
Propulsion	Two vertical triple expansion steam engines 6 cylindrical boilers 2 shafts
Speed	22.25 kn (25.60 mph; 41.21 km/h) (natural draft) 23 kn (26 mph; 43 km/h)
Complement	513
Armament	2 × 8 in (203 mm)/40-calibre guns (2×1) 16 × 6 in (152 mm)/40-calibre guns 8 × 12-pounder guns 10 × 6-pounder guns 4 × machine-guns 3 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor	Harvey steel Belt: 6 in (152 mm) Deck:1+1⁄2–2 in (38–51 mm) Bulkheads: 6 in (152 mm) Gunshields:4+1⁄2 in (110 mm) Conning tower: 8 in (203 mm)

Esmeralda was developed as a custom design by naval architect Philip Watts for the Chilean Navy during the Argentine–Chilean naval arms race.

On 18 December 1907, the ship brought troops from Valparaíso to Iquique to repress thousands of miners from different nitrate mines in Chile's north who were appealing for government intervention to improve their living and working conditions. This later developed into the Santa María School massacre.

Esmeralda served in the Chilean Navy for approximately thirty years, until 1930.

• 
  1/48th scale model of Esmeralda, on display at the Swiss Museum of Transport.

See also

• South American dreadnought race
• List of decommissioned ships of the Chilean Navy

References

• Brooke, Peter. Warships for Export: Armstrong Warships 1867–1927. Gravesend, UK: World Ship Society, 1999. ISBN 0-905617-89-4.
• Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway's Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.

External links

• Chilean Navy site Esmeralda (1895), retrieved on 17 December 2012