On March 31, 1866, the people of Valparaíso woke to an astonishing sight — a Spanish fleet, with its ironclad hulls glinting under the sun, ready to unleash fire upon their city. This was an attack that shocked the world, and amidst the chaos sat HMS Leander, a British warship tasked with maintaining neutrality (and a ship you may have worked on at Monsoon Voyage).
Historical Context: The Chincha Islands War
To understand why Spain bombarded Valparaíso, we need to go back to 1864. At the heart of the conflict was guano — an accumulated excrement from seabirds and/or bats. But this wasn’t just any waste; it was the most sought-after fertiliser in the world, essential for booming agricultural economies. The Chincha Islands, located off the coast of Peru, were one of the richest sources of guano, and Spain wanted them.
At that point in time, Spain still saw itself as a global power, despite having lost its South American colonies decades earlier. Using a diplomatic dispute as a pretext, Spanish forces went on and seized the Chincha Islands in April 1864, asserting Spanish influence over its former empire.
However, Peru refused to accept this occupation, and was backed by Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia. What followed was a war fought largely at sea, with both sides engaging in raids, naval skirmishes, and blockades. The conflict escalated when Chile captured a Spanish warship, the Covadonga, in 1865. In retaliation, Spain turned its sights on Chilean ports, culminating in the infamous bombardment of Valparaíso.
Valparaíso Burns
By March 1866, Spain’s Pacific fleet, led by Admiral Casto Méndez Núñez, had already bombarded Peru’s port of Callao. Now, they were anchored off Valparaíso, Chile’s largest and most prosperous port city. But Valparaíso was defenceless — Chile had focused its military resources elsewhere and had no coastal artillery to protect the harbour.
The Spanish then gave an ultimatum: surrender the Chilean navy’s war supplies, or suffer the consequences.
However, Chile refused.
And at 7:00 a.m. on March 31, the Spanish fleet opened fire.
For over three hours, cannonballs and shells rained down, setting warehouses, ships, and entire blocks of the city ablaze. The harbour, once bustling with trade, was now filled with the wreckage of burning vessels. While over 30 ships were destroyed, the financial losses were transnational — millions of dollars’ worth of property belonging to Chilean, British, and American merchants was lost. Yet, despite all that, no casualties were reported, as most civilians fled inwards.
HMS Leander: A British Dilemma
While Valparaíso burned, HMS Leander and other neutral warships sat anchored in the harbour. At that time, HMS Leander, a 50-gun frigate and flagship of Britain’s Pacific Station Southern Division, was under the command of Commodore Michael de Courcy.
However, the Royal Navy were given strict orders: do not intervene. Despite having significant commercial interests in Chile, Britain had already declared neutrality in the Chincha Islands War. British merchants in Valparaíso begged de Courcy to act, but he refused, bound by diplomatic constraints. It was a bitter pill to swallow — while British ships were destroyed, warehouses burned, HMS Leander stood still and watched.
Back home however, this led to an intense outrage. The Times newspaper publicly condemned Britain’s inaction, calling it a disgrace that a Spanish fleet could destroy British property without consequence.
But the truth was, Britain had no appetite for war with Spain. The empire was focused elsewhere, and a conflict in the Pacific wasn’t worth the risk.
Sailing to the end: The Veil of Spanish Conquest Lifted
Spain’s bombardment of Valparaíso achieved little beyond outrage. Instead of weakening Chile, it united South America against Spain. On May 2, 1866, the Spanish fleet attempted another attack, this time on Callao, Peru. But this time, the Peruvians were ready; coastal defences repelled the attack, and Spain suffered heavy damage to its fleet.
By the end of 1866, Spain withdrew from the Pacific, never to return as a colonial power. The Chincha Islands War had effectively ended, and with it, Spain’s ambitions of reviving its empire in South America.
While Valparaíso would recover, the scars of the bombardment lingered. The attack demonstrated the vulnerability of neutral trade ports during wartime and raised questions about the responsibilities of global naval powers like Britain. HMS Leander’s passive role in the bombardment remains a subject of debate — should a superpower protect its commercial interests, or does neutrality demand inaction?
For HMS Leander, the bombardment was one of the last major events in her long career. She was decommissioned a year later; broken up, her timbers and iron repurposed, her name left in memory and history.
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