Huascar: Hijacked Battleship
Launched for the Peruvian navy in 1865, the Huascar was captured by Chile in the war of 1879. David Woodward analyses the large part it has played in Chilean history.
Huascar, one of the few warships that ever changed history single-handed or was ever hijacked, now lies peacefully at the Chilean naval base of Talcahuano. She is a small ship, displacing some 1,800 tons, and only about 200 feet in length, but her two heavy guns and a speed of twelve knots changed the frontiers of Chile, Bolivia and Peru in the course of the years 1879-1883, giving Chile possession of the ni
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