Construction Construction of the ship was authorized on 30 June 1852 by President
Manuel Montt and the Minister of War and Navy
José Francisco Gana. Chilean naval officer
Roberto Simpson Winthrop and shipbuilder William Pitcher of
Northfleet, England, signed a contract for her construction, at a total cost of £23,000, on 23 October 1854. The ship was laid down in December 1854, and launched on 26 June 1855 under the name
Esmeralda, The single propeller could be decoupled and raised when under sail. The
ship's complement was 200.
Service history Esmeralda was commissioned into the
Chilean Navy on 18 September 1855, Her original armament of twenty
32-pounder guns was replaced in 1867–68 with twelve Armstrong rifled 40-pounders and four Whitworth
smoothbore 40-pounders. In 1877 she sailed to
Easter Island and
Tahiti on a training voyage. of the sinking of
Esmeralda by
Huáscar during the Battle of Iquique On 21 May 1879, during the
War of the Pacific,
Esmeralda engaged the in the
Battle of Iquique. Despite the material superiority of the Peruvian ship, the battle lasted for over three hours. The captain of
Esmeralda,
Arturo Prat, was killed while leading an attempt to board the enemy vessel, and
Huáscar eventually sank
Esmeralda after repeated ramming. ==Museum Corbeta Esmeralda==