The nineteenth century South American naval arms race (Part 1): The situation in 1883

I recently wrote a short review of Osprey Publication’s SOUTH AMERICAN BATTLESHIPS 1908–59: BRAZIL, ARGENTINA, AND CHILE'S GREAT DREADNOUGHT RACE. The book concentrates on the period from 1908 to 1959, but the rivalry - and an associated naval arms race - went much further back, and saw the Argentinian, Brazilian, and Chilean Navies acquire a number of warships in the period up 1908, some of which were ground-breaking designs at the time.

The Chilean victory in the War of the Pacific (1879 to 1883) was in no small part due to her navy, which in 1883 comprised the following vessels:

• Abtao (Steam Corvette): Originally ordered for the Confederate Navy as the CSS Texas (later Cyclone) and built by Dennis Brothers of Glasgow. She was completed but not delivered by the end of the American Civil War and sold to Chile in time to just to miss service during the Chinchas Islands War. (1866 to 1922)
• Chacabuco (Steam Corvette) (1868 to 1890)
• O’Higgins (Steam Corvette) (1868 to 1895)
• Magallanes (Steam Corvette) (1874 to 1906)
• Huascar (Turreted Ironclad): Captured from the Peruvians at the Battle of Angamos on 8th October 1879 and incorporated into the Chilean Navy. (1864 to the present)
• Almirante Cochrane (Central Battery Ironclad) (1874 to 1933)
• Blanco Encalada (Central Battery Ironclad) (1875 to 1891)
• Janequeo (Torpedo Boat) (1881 to 1891)
• Lauca (Torpedo Boat) (1881 to 1891)
• Rucumilla (Torpedo Boat) (1881 to 1902)
• Quidora (Torpedo Boat) (1881 to 1902)
• Tegualda (Torpedo Boat) (1891 to 1901)
• Guale (Torpedo Boat) (1881 to 1899)
• Glaura (Torpedo Boat): Sold to Japan (1881 to 1885)
• Fresia (Torpedo Boat) (1882 to 1884)
• Guacolda (Torpedo Boat) (1882 to ?)

Note: The dates in brackets show the year when the ship was ordered/bought and when is was scrapped/discarded.

Huascar

Almirante Cochrane

Blanco Encalada

Soon the war with Peru and Bolivia was over, a simmering dispute between Chile and Argentina about Patagonia intensified. The border was ill-defined and this led to growing tension between the two countries, and this manifested itself as a naval arms race.

In 1883, the Argentinian Navy had the following ships in service:

• Los Andes (Coastal Defence Turret Ship) (1875 to 1927)
• El Plata (Coastal Defence Turret Ship) (1875 to 1927)
• Almirante Brown (Central Battery Ironclad) (1882 to 1932)
• Maipú (Paddle Torpedo Boat) (1871 to 1902)
• Paraná (Gunboat) (1874 to 1900)
• Uraguay (Gunboat) (1874 to 1903)
• Pilcomayo (Gunboat) (1876 to 1896)
• Bermejo (Gunboat) (1876 to 1898)
• República (Gunboat) (1876 to 1911)
• Constitución (Gunboat) (1876 to 1915)

Los Andes

El Plata

Almirante Brown