Warships of the Chincha Island Wars (1864-1866)

My copy of WARSHIPS OF THE CHINCHA ISLAND WARS (1864-1866): SPAIN'S LAST IMPERIAL ADVENTURE by William Eugene Warner (ISBN 978 1 4812 2976 0 finally arrived from Amazon ...

... and now that I have had a chance to look through it, the wait was well worth it!

The book was written by a wargamer for wargamers, and it not only contains a description of the reasons why the war started and the major naval actions that took place, it also contains information about the navies and the ships that were involved. Of particular interest to me – and something that I had not known about before – was the fact that not only did Peru convert one of their steam-powered frigates – the Loa – into a casemate ironclad that resembled a smaller version of the Confederate Virginia, but also built Monitor named Victoria.

The book is divided into eleven chapters and two appendices:

1. Introduction
2. Background of the War
3. Spanish Navy in the 19th century
4. Ships of the Spanish Navy
5. The Republic of Peru
6. Ships of the Republic of Peru
7. The Republic of Chile
8. Ships of the Republic of Chile
9. Ecuador and Bolivia
10. Weapons of the Chincha War
11. Sources

• Appendix 1 – Echoes of What Might Have Been
• Appendix 2 – Wargaming the Chincha Island War

I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the more unusual and less well-known conflicts of the nineteenth century, and especially to those who share my love of naval warfare in the age of steam and iron.