Name Magallanes Commissioned 28 December 1874 Beam 27 ft (8.2 m) Length 61 m Builder London | Ordered by Law of 4 March 1872 Displacement 950 tons Launched 28 July 1873 Weight 965.2 tons | |
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Fate Sunk off Corral, Chile, 1907 | ||
The corvette Magallanes was ordered by the Chilean government after the disastrous consequences of the War against Spain in 1864-1866 and the raising border conflict with the neighboring countries at the end of the 1870s.
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In the extreme southern region of Chile
In 1874 she was ordered to travel to the Strait of Magellan to produce charts of the Angostura Inglesa in the Messier Channel, and of the Bahia Possession in the strait.
In January 1876, during patrols off the extreme southern region of Chile and under the command of Juan José Latorre, the French ship Jeanne Amelie was seized off the coast of Rio Negro as they loaded guano without a Chilean license. By the attempt to bring the ship to Punta Arenas, the Jeanne Amelie sank on 27 April 1876 at the eastern entrance of the Strait of Magellan. Later the American ship Devonshire was also seized.
In 1877, also under the command of Juan José Latorre, the crew of the corvette put down "El motín de los artilleros" ("The Mutiny of the Artillerymen") and restored the rule of law in Punta Arenas.
War of the Pacific
The Magallanes was a protagonist of the Battle of Chipana in April 1879, the first naval battle of the war. In September 1879 she was refitted in Valparaíso and Carlos Condell took the command of the ship. In November she was involved in the amphibious assault on the port of Pisagua.
Civil War of 1891
During the civil war of 1891 she sided with the Junta of Iquique.
In 1906 the ship was decommissioned, handed over to the Merchant Navy. In 1907 she sank off Corral.