USS Oneota (1864)
| USS Oneota after her rechristening as Manco Cápac USS Oneota after her rechristening as Manco Cápac | |
| Career (USA) | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Oneota |
| Builder: | Alexander Swift & Company, Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Laid down: | 1864 |
| Launched: | 21 May 1864 |
| Fate: | Sold to builder, 13 April 1868 |
| Career (Peru) | Peru Navy Jack |
| Name: | Manco Cápac |
| Acquired: | 1868 |
| Commissioned: | 1870 |
| Fate: | Scuttled, 7 June 1880 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Monitor |
| Displacement: | 2,100 long tons (2,134 t) |
| Length: | 223 ft (68 m) |
| Beam: | 43 ft 4 in (13.21 m) |
| Draft: | 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam engine |
| Speed: | 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
| Complement: | 85 |
| Armament: | 2 × 15 in (380 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns |
| Armor: |
Turret: 11 in (280 mm) Pilothouse: 11 in (280 mm) Hull: 5 in (130 mm) Deck: 1.5 in (38 mm) |
USS Oneota, a coastal monitor built at Cincinnati, Ohio, by Alexander Swift & Co., and by the Niles Works, was launched 21 May 1864.
Completed shortly after the end of the American Civil War, on 10 June 1865, Oneota was laid up until sold to her builder, Alexander Swift and Co., 13 April 1868, and illegally resold to Peru. The selling of the Oneota and her sister-ship Catawba violated a treaty the United States had signed with Spain. Though the sale was allowed to proceed Swift and Co. had to pay fines that equaled nearly ⅓ of the total sale amount.
BAP Manco Cápac
The monitor served the Peruvian Navy as Manco Cápac, named after Manco Cápac, the first king of the Kingdom of Cuzco which would grow into the Inca Empire.
In 1879, disagreements over nitrate-rich lands led Chile to go to war with Bolivia and Peru. The Chileans opened with a blockade of Iquique on 5 April by the ironclads Almirante Cochrane and Blanco Encalada along with unarmored warships. On 21 May, the Chileans prepared to attack the Peruvian fleet at Callao, but there they found only the monitors Atahualpa and Manco Cápac; the seagoing ironclads were missing. They turned up at Iquique the same day, scattering the Chilean wooden vessels left on guard there despite poor Peruvian gunnery. During the three day battle at Iquique, the Manco Cápac left Callao for Arica on 3 August, arriving four days later.
On 8 October 1879, the Chilean fleet caught the Peruvian ironclad Huáscar resulting Battle of Angamos Peninsula. The Huáscar was finally captured after being riddled by Chilean gunnery. Repaired and under Chilean command, on 27 February 1880 the Huáscar attacked the Peruvians at Arica, fighting an inconclusive duel with the Manco Cápac. The Chilean fleet continued to bombard Arica until the army closed in on the city from the rear; the city fell in June 7th after a quick and short battle and the Manco Cápac was scuttled to prevent capture.[1]
The sunken hulk still exists and is mostly intact, being located in 2007, lying 2½ miles offshore in 100 feet of water, according to reports from the University of Tarapacá in Arica, Chile.
References
- ↑ Alden, John D., CDR USN "Monitors 'Round Cape Horn" United States Naval Institute Proceedings September 1974 pp.78-82
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
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