Chilean frigate Chile (1840)

The impressive[2] frigate Chile was built 1840 in Bordeaux, France, by order of the Chilean government, but without building supervision, the use of poorly dried timber that had been felled outside the normal winter season was the main cause of rot damage.[3]

Frigate Chile in Valparaíso, in an oil painting from 1845 by the American Jacob C. Ward.
History
Chilean EnsignChile
NameChile
OperatorChilean Navy
Ordered1838
BuilderM. Courrant, Bordeaux
Cost$ 250,000
Commissioned10 Mai 1840
Decommissioned1858[1]
FateScrapped
General characteristics
Displacement1,109 t
Propulsionsail
Crew300 - 50
Armament44 guns

She saw little active service. After the first voyage to Callao, the crew was reduced to 50 from 300 men, and 1841 she should be disarmed for reasons of economy, but because of the tensions between Perú and Bolivia after the War of the Confederation (see Battle of Ingavi) she was refitted again.[4]

During the time the frigate was commanded by Roberto Simpson Francisco Hudson was employed on board.[5]

In 1847 she was damaged by a fire on board of a neighboring salpeter ship and she beached in Valparaíso as she attempted to exit the harbor.

After a few years she was relegated to the role of Pontoon and later as training ship for the Nautical school of the Chilean Navy until 1858.

See also

References
  1. Chilean Navy site, Fragata Chile Archived 2013-04-08 at archive.today, retrieved on 11 November 2012
  2. George von Rauch, Conflict in the Southern Cone: The Argentine Military and the Boundary conflict with Chile
  3. Gerardo Etcheverry, Principales naves de guerra a vela hispanoamericanas, retrieved on 11 November 2012
  4. Carlos López Urrutia, Historia de la Marina de Chile, page 187
  5. Sepúlveda Ortíz, Jorge (1998), "Francisco Hudson, un destacado marino poco conocido en nuestra historia" (PDF), Revista de Marina (in Spanish): 1–20, archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-01-23, retrieved 2015-08-11
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