Qualla: Battle of Iquique https://qualla.com/battle-of-iquique en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:08 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/6/k/q/j/battle-of-iquique-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Iquique https://qualla.com/battle-of-iquique Battle of Iquique: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-iquique/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. At 12:10 p.m. on May 21, 1879, the Chilean flag nailed to the mizzen mast of the corvette Esmeralda slipped beneath the Pacific. It was the last piece of the ship to disappear. Hours earlier, her captain, Arturo Prat, had jumped onto the deck of the Peruvian ironclad Huascar with sword drawn and been shot dead -- a gesture so reckless, so futile, and so brave that it would define Chilean patriotism for the next century and a half. The newspapers would coin a new word for what he inspired: Pratiotism.

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Image: Unknown author | Public domain

]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/k/q/j/battle-of-iquique-wp/6kqj-battle-of-iquique-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Iquique: A War Over White Gold https://qualla.com/battle-of-iquique/ Photo credit Carlos Prieto, Public domain. The War of the Pacific began, as South American wars often did, over minerals. When Bolivia threatened to confiscate the Antofagasta Nitrate and Railway Company -- a Chilean and British mining venture -- Chile seized the port of Antofagasta on February 14, 1879. Bolivia declared ...

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Image: Carlos Prieto | Public domain

]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/k/q/j/battle-of-iquique-wp/6kqj-battle-of-iquique-a-war-over-white-gold.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Iquique: Fog, Smoke, and a Captain's Promise https://qualla.com/battle-of-iquique/ Photo credit Rodrigo Fernández, CC BY-SA 4.0. Dense marine fog blanketed the harbor that morning. When it lifted at 6:30 a.m., the Covadonga's lookout shouted "Smoke to the north!" -- and through a telescope, her crew identified the approaching silhouettes as the Peruvian squadron. Captain Prat understood immediately what th...

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Image: Rodrigo Fernández | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/k/q/j/battle-of-iquique-wp/6kqj-battle-of-iquique-fog-smoke-and-a-captains-promise.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Iquique: Four Hours of Unequal Combat https://qualla.com/battle-of-iquique/ Photo credit Antonio Bisama Cuevas, Public domain. The fighting began at 8:15 a.m. Prat positioned the Esmeralda close to shore, forcing the Huascar to fire in parabolic arcs to avoid hitting the Peruvian village whose residents had gathered on the beach to watch. For ninety minutes, the Peruvian gunners, inexperienced with their...

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Image: Antonio Bisama Cuevas | Public domain

]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/k/q/j/battle-of-iquique-wp/6kqj-battle-of-iquique-four-hours-of-unequal-combat.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Iquique: The Gentleman of the Seas https://qualla.com/battle-of-iquique/ Photo credit Rodrigo Fernández, CC BY-SA 4.0. What happened next shaped two nations' memories. Grau ordered rescue boats deployed to save the fifty-seven Chilean survivors struggling in the water. He collected Prat's personal effects -- diary, uniform, sword -- and returned them to Prat's widow, Carmela Carvajal, with a lett...

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Image: Rodrigo Fernández | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/k/q/j/battle-of-iquique-wp/6kqj-battle-of-iquique-the-gentleman-of-the-seas.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Iquique: A Defeat That Won a War https://qualla.com/battle-of-iquique/ Photo credit Thomas Somerscales, Public domain. Peru won the Battle of Iquique. The blockade was lifted, and the Esmeralda -- one of Chile's oldest warships -- lay at the bottom of the Pacific. But Peru lost the Independencia, one of its most powerful vessels, run aground at Punta Gruesa. And Prat's death ignited something the...

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Image: Thomas Somerscales | Public domain

]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/k/q/j/battle-of-iquique-wp/6kqj-battle-of-iquique-a-defeat-that-won-a-war.mp3 0:06 6 full