This was
proved shortly after its reorganization in the war which broke out in
1879 between the Chilians and the allied Peruvians and Bolivians.
Hostilities were brought about by the vexed question of the ownership of
the valuable nitrate provinces. These, Chile claimed, constituted the
northernmost of her territory, to which Peru retorted that they formed
the southernmost portion of her land.
The naval engagements which ensued demonstrated to the utmost the high
spirit of the Chilian sailor and the efficiency of the school in which
he had been trained. The action in which the two small Chilian vessels,
the _Esmeralda_ and the _Covadonga_, fought so heroically against the
Peruvian ironclads, _Huascar_ and _Independencia_, was, of course, the
most famous of the war, and the memory of this is jealously guarded by
the Chilian navy of to-day. No question of victory on the part of Chile
was ever involved in this particular action, since the miniature guns of
the small Chilian vessels could, under no circumstances, take effect on
the Peruvians, giants by comparison. It was merely a sublime
demonstration of the extent to which Chilian resistance could be
carried. Thus the _Esmeralda_, refusing to surrender to the very last,
went down after a prolonged and desperate engagement with her colours
flying; while the tiny _Covadonga_, having lured one of her opponents
into shallow water, and thus caused the _Independencia_ to run aground,
blazed away her final volleys of small shot, and retired with all the
honours of war.
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