Capture of the Paquete de Maule

Capture of the Paquete de Maule
Part of the Chincha Islands War
Chilean steamer Paquete de Maule.
Date March 6, 1866 Location Gulf of Arauco, Chile Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
Spain	Chile
Commanders and leaders
Juan Bautista Topete	Luis Alfredo Lynch Zaldívar
Strength
1 frigate[1] (39 canons)	1 steamer (unarmed)
Casualties and losses
none	134 captured, 1 steamer captured[2]

On 6 March 1866, during the Chincha Islands War, the Spanish steam frigate Blanca captured the Chilean sidewheel steamer Paquete de Maule in the Gulf of Arauco.

Paquete de Maule was a 400-ton sidewheel steamer built by Lawrence & Foulks in 1861 at Williamsburg, New York for G. K. Stevenson & Co., who planned to operate the vessel between Valparaiso and Maule.^[3] During the war, the Paquete de Maule served as an auxiliary ship to the Chilean fleet and it was unarmed. On March 6, 1866, while en route from Lota to Montevideo (and being accompanied by Independencia pilebot) with a crew of 7 men, and officer and 126 sailors destined to complete the crews of the Peruvian ironclads Huascar and Independencia,^[2] it was captured by the Spanish frigate Blanca, commanded by Juan Bautista Topete.

The Spanish ship didn't detect the Chilean Independencia pailebot and it was able to escape taking refuge in the shallow areas.^[4]

The Paquete de Maule sailing under the British colors in a vain attempt to avoid capture.^[2] Once the Spanish were on board, her crew alleged to be British citizens, but the unconvinced Spanish officers arrested them.^[2] Spanish civilians imprisoned in Lima were offered in exchange for Lynch and his crew, but Méndez Núñez refused.^[5]

The Paquete de Maule, added to the Spanish fleet as an auxiliary ship, armed with two cannons,^[2] took part in the Battle of Callao.^[6] On 10 May 1866 she was burned and scuttled near the San Lorenzo island since the Spanish couldn't take it with them on their retreat towards the Philippines.

Notes

1. Rodríguez González p. 67
2. García Martínez p. 83
3. Frazer p. 42
4. History of the Chilean Navy by Carlos López Urrutia. Editorial Andrés Bello, 1968, pg 313 (Spanish)
5. Pons Muzzo p. 205
6. Herrera Cuntti p. 247

References

• Frazer, John F. (Ed.) (1863): Journal of the Franklin Institute, Volume XLV, January–June 1863, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia.
• García Martínez, José Ramón (1999). El combate del 2 de mayo de 1866 en El Callao: resultados y conclusiones tácticas y técnicas. Ministerio de Defensa. ISBN 978-84-7823-680-0.
• Herrera Cuntti, Arístides. Divagaciones históricas en la web. Arístides Herrera Cuntti. ISBN 978-9972-2908-2-4.
• Pons Muzzo, Gustavo (1966). Historia del conflicto entre el Perú y España, 1864-1866: el 2 de Mayo de 1866. Ediciones del Colegio San Julián.
• Rodríguez González, Agustín Ramón (1999). La Armada Española, la campaña del Pacífico, 1862-1871: España frente a Chile y Perú. Agualarga. ISBN 978-84-95088-90-1.