Чили́йский флот: история и традиции

Branch of the Chilean Armed Forces

The Chilean Navy (lang es) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso.

The origins of the Chilean Navy date back to 1817, when General Bernardo O'Higgins prophetically declared after the Chilean victory at the Battle of Chacabuco that a hundred such victories would count for nothing if Chile did not gain control of the sea. This led to the development of the Chilean Navy, and the first legal resolutions outlining the organization of the institution were created. Chile's First National Fleet and the Academy for Young Midshipmen, which was the predecessor of the current Naval Academy, were founded, as well as the Marine Corps and the Supply Commissary. The first commander of the Chilean Navy was Manuel Blanco Encalada. Famous British naval commander Lord Cochrane, who formerly had been a captain in the British royal navy, was hired by Chileans to organize and command their Navy. Cochrane recruited an almost all anglophone complement of officers and midshipmen and crews of British, Irish, and American seamen. He became a key figure in the war against loyalist forces in Peru, and was instrumental in taking control of the fortresses of Valdivia, though he failed in his attempt to conquer Chiloé Island. In March 1824, the Chilean Navy and Army undertook an expedition to expel the Spanish from Chiloé Archipelago. An expedition was dispatched to Chiloé Island, but it ended in failure when the Chilean Army led by Jorge Beauchef was defeated at the Battle of Mocopulli. Only after Ramón Freire's Chiloé expedition in 1826 did the royalist forces at Chiloé, under the command of Antonio de Quintanilla, surrender and Chiloé joined the new Chilean nation.

After the wars of independence, a series of conflicts demonstrated the importance of the navy to the nation. First of these conflicts were the War of the Confederation (1836–1839), the Chincha Islands War (1864–1866), and the War of the Pacific (1879–1883). The founding of Fuerte Bulnes in the Strait of Magellan marked the starting point of a series of Chilean Navy explorations, led by navy hydrographers, such as Francisco Vidal Gormaz and Francisco Hudson, in the unknown zone between the Strait of Magellan and Chiloé. To deal with this new area of activity, the navy founded in 1874 the Hydrographic Office, whose first director was Francisco Vidal Gormaz. Chilean war hero and martyr Arturo Prat is regarded as the ultimate example of the commitment of the navy to its country, after his death while leading a boarding party onto the enemy ironclad Huáscar at the naval battle of Iquique on 21 May 1879, during the War against Peru and Bolivia. The anniversary of this battle is celebrated every year as a public holiday called Día de las Glorias Navales. Prat is also considered to be one of the co founders of the Naval Seaman Training School in 1868, which began operating a year later, and was one of the Naval Academy's finest graduate officers that in 1943 it became the National Naval School "Arturo Prat" in his honor. The navy further distinguished itself during the Battle of Pisagua in 1879, led by both the Navy and the Marine Artillery Groups and Marine Infantry, the world's first modern military landing operation, that resulted in Chilean victories in other parts of Peru's Tarapacá region, and resulted to its annexation by Chile. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888. By occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations. With the Peruvian Navy destroyed, Bolivia becoming a landlocked country, and Argentina having only a brown water navy, the Chilean Navy had a regional hegemony in the years following the War of the Pacific. To secure this advantage and not let new Argentine acquisitions challenge Chilean naval power, the Chilean government decided to modernize its navy. The modernization plan included the ordering of two cruisers and two torpedo boat destroyers, and the modernization of two armoured ships in English docks.

In 1904, Brazil ordered two dreadnoughts to be built by the United Kingdom. In response, Argentina ordered two dreadnoughts with an option for a third from the United States. They also ordered 12 destroyers from three nations in Europe. With its major rival acquiring so many modern vessels,By 1911, the disparity between the navies of Chile, Argentina, and Brazil had grown; Brazil had nearly four times the tonnage of Chile, while Argentina had nearly three and a half times as much. Chile was forced to respond, although this was delayed by a financial depression brought on by a major earthquake and a drastic fall in the nitrate market in 1906 and 1907, respectively. Livermore and Grant, who cites Livermore's work, both attribute part of this delay to a 1908 earthquake, but no major earthquake hit Chile in that year, cf. List of earthquakes in Chile. However, the Valparaíso earthquake of 1906 caused nearly 4,000 deaths, a tsunami, and a wide swath of destruction over the Chilean capital and surrounding areas. Given this, it seems likely that Livermore's 1908 earthquake was a typographical error inadvertently repeated in Grant's account. Eventually, Chile ordered two Almirante Latorre class super dreadnoughts and six Almirante Lynch class destroyers from British shipyards, but received only two destroyers before the rest were purchased by the Royal Navy during World War I; of these, Chile would finally receive three destroyers and one battleship, the Almirante Latorre, after the War. Chile also received six British H class submarines from the Royal Navy in 1917, and purchased three Capitan O'Brien class submarines and six Serrano class destroyers in the late 1920s. Its fleet of cruisers, though, all built in the 1890s, were totally outdated by the time the Great Depression forced their retirements without replacements. In 1931, the navy once more made headlines in Chilean politics when large portions of it (26 ships) began a mutiny that demanded the president to rescind a salary reduction. The demands were later expanded to include an agrarian reform, industrial "solidarity", and the payment of the external debt by the "millionaires". The mutineers had their ships located at Coquimbo and Talcahuano's naval base, which they controlled. Chilean government responded by sending the Chilean Air Force to bombard the ships in Coquimbo and charging Talcahuano's naval base. After the quelling of the rebellion, the navy was purged, although the mutiny had its origin among the lower ranks. These economic and political factors, along with Chile's neutrality for much of World War II, meant that the navy did not acquire any warships until after the war.

Chile formulated its Antarctic claim in 1940. In 1947, the navy established the first Chilean base, the Captain Arturo Prat Base, on the continent before the Chilean Army or Air Force established their own bases. Since then, the navy has played a major role in supplying Chilean bases and performing numerous rescue missions, among them, the in 1972 and 2007. The Navy's most recognizable sailing school ship, the Esmeralda, began operations in 1952. It since has made various trips around the world with selected cadet officers and NCOs on board trained in ship handling and operations, as a requirement for graduation. Prior to the Esmeralda, another sailing ship, the General Baquedano, fulfilled the same functions. In the 1950s, the Chilean Navy became involved in a series of incidents with the Argentine Navy and Argentine civilians in the disputed areas of the Beagle Channel and Cape Horn. These incidents took the form of incursions into Chilean waters by Argentine fishing ships, and provocations, such as the shelling of a Chilean lighthouse by the Argentine Navy during the Snipe incident of 1958. During the late 1970s, the Chilean Navy played an important role in defending Chilean sovereignty over the Picton, Lennox and Nueva islands that the Argentine Navy planned to seize. The birth of the modern Chilean Marine Corps of today began in 1964. Naval educational institutions were reformed in 1968, when president Eduardo Frei Montalva created the "Naval Specialities Schools System" with headquarters at the Las Salinas Naval Base in Viña del Mar. One of its schools, the Naval Seaman Training School, became the Seamen's School of the Navy "Captain Alejandro Navarrete Cisterna" in the same year as its centenary, in honor of the first naval seaman to rise through the ranks to become a naval officer. The NSSS soon became the Naval Polytechnic Academy in 1995, through a merger of all its component schools, with some of these schools staying as independent constituent academies. After the 1973 Chilean coup d'etat, together with the Army, the Air Force, and the Carabiniers, the navy, led by Admiral Jose Toribio Merino, became part of the government junta led by army commander in chief Augusto Pinochet. Upon the latter's resignation from the junta leadership in 1981, Adm. Merino became its chairman until March 1990, presiding over its sessions and those of the Legislative Commission. He was also, concurrently, the national defense minister. The training ship Esmeralda functioned as a floating prison and torture chamber for political prisoners during the 1973–1980 period of the military dictatorship. It is claimed that probably over a hundred persons were kept there at times and subjected to hideous treatment. It was also an unprecedented period of growth and expansion of the naval service, as more vessels became part of it, the marines strengthened and the navy's special forces unit raised.

The 25,000 person navy, including 5,200 marines, is directed by Admiral Julio Leiva Molina Martin as of 2017. Of the fleet of 66 surface vessels (soon to be increased to 74), 21 are major combatant ships based in Valparaíso. The navy operates its own aircraft for transport, patrol, and surface and antisubmarine attack. The navy also operates four submarines and a tender ship to support them, all based in Talcahuano. The navy also provides access to services for residents of Chile's Pacific and Southern island regions, thus integrating its disjointed geography. The transport of passengers, especially during the school year or in cases of emergency, together with the supply of provisions and fuel, are of key importance to the inhabitants of these insular zones. The institution regularly carries out civil operations whereby navy professionals provide social assistance and health care to the civilian population, and provide support in cases of natural catastrophe. It also undertakes preventive education campaigns for Chile's population on issues that include security on beaches and seaside resorts, and measures to be taken in the case of a tsunami. The most important naval bases and supply depots are (from north to south) in the Pacific Ocean: Iquique, Easter Island, Valparaíso, Talcahuano, Puerto Montt; in the Atlantic zone: Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego: Punta Arenas, in the Beagle Channel, Cape Horn and Drake Passage: Puerto Williams, and in Antarctica: Captain Arturo Prat Base. These are now spread into five naval zones.

Helicopters and armored amphibians for LSDH Aldea. The construction of another 3 PZM Patrulleros de Zona Marítima PZM, one for each naval zone. Elbit Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle for maritime patrol tasks under evaluation. Replacement or modernization of the L class frigates. On December 27, 2019, it was announced that Australia had sold the s, and to Chile. Construction of 4 multi purpose ships (LPD), part of project "Escotillón IV" and the "plan de construcción naval continua" (continuous naval construction plan in spanish) of the Chilean Navy.

The Chilean Marines or (Infanteria de Marina de Chile) are the land/amphibious attack force of the Chilean Navy. The 5,000 man force combines special training and tactics with state of the art equipment.

The Servicio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de la Armada de Chile (SHOA, Spanish for Hydrological and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy) is an agency of the Chilean Navy managing situations dealing with hydrology and oceanography including tides and tsunamis. SHOA is also the official Chilean government timekeeper.

Ranks and rates are shown on the sleeves of all Chilean Navy summer uniforms (and on the shoulder boards on winter or summer service uniforms as well for officers and WOs only). Shoulder and sleeve ranks are inspired by those in the British Royal Navy, the French Navy and the German Navy. Officers, WOs and NCOs of the Marines add the Infante de Marina (Marine Soldier) title to their ranks from Seaman onward, as the Marines are part of the Navy. All officers, active or reserve, study at the Arturo Prat Naval Academy and later in the Naval Polytechnic Academy and the Naval War Academy receive improved training and education to be promoted as well as training in his/her specialty field while all active and reserve NCOs (known in the Navy through the general term Men of the Sea) study at the Seamen's School of the Navy "Alejandro Navarette Cisnerna" and later in the Naval Polytechnic Academy and its attached and independent colleges for later specialty training.