Guano and Gold
The large-scale exploitation of deposits of guano from the Peruvian coast facilitated the stabilization of Peruvian governments since the late forties to the early seventies of last century. Among those who gave more attention to the Navy in this period include the Mariscal Ramón Castilla and General Rufino Echenique, who led turn Peru into a naval power through an aggressive program of acquisitions.
Among these ships worth mentioning the Mercedes frigate, which was the first warship acquired Castilla, and then the Rimac first warship to steam in South American waters, built in the United States and arrived at Callao on July 27 1848. the frigates Callao and Amazonas were commissioned to England in the next decade. Other warships and transports were acquired, to the point that the Peruvian squadron became the most important in South America in those years.
However, an unfortunate event came when the frigate Mercedes sank off Casma on May 2, 1854. This terrible accident, which killed more than 800 people, left a magnificent lesson in value more beyond the call of duty, when the commander, Captain John Noel chose to go down with his ship before leaving in such a difficult time and with a lot of people who still remained on board.
Another important developments had arisen a few years earlier. The discovery of gold in the Californian coast of the United States, caused a massive migration of adventurers in search of valuable metal, which arrived in quantity by sea. Many of these vessels not only disembarking passengers, but also lost a large part or even the whole crew attracted to the so-called "gold rush". In 1848, some Peruvian ships were abandoned in San Francisco, so its owners requested the government to a warship be sent in order to protect their interests.
It was so the brig General Gamarra, commanded by Commander José María Silva Rodriguez, was sent to San Francisco, where he remained for almost ten months. During his stay in that port there was a big mess on land that local authorities could not quell, and must seek help from foreign warships anchored in the bay. For this reason, an armed detachment disembarked from Gamarra and helped bring order to the city. Thus the Peru took part in the first and only armed intervention of a foreign naval force in US territory.
On 25 October 1856 the frigate Amazon, commanded by captain Jose Boterín, set sail from Callao in demand for Hong Kong to perform some urgent work on the dam that port. Upon arrival at their destination, he found himself with the surprise that the Second Opium War had exploded , encouraging him to go to Calcutta, where he made the needed repairs. During his stay in the port several of the crew of the frigate were killed, cholera victims. From there he went to London, where Boterín was replaced by Lieutenant Commander Francisco Sanz, and armament of the frigate was completed. Finally, Amazon set sail from London on demand Callao, arriving at the first port on May 28, 1858, after completing the first circumnavigation by a South American steamship of war, in which took part 17 midshipmen.
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