Superbly illustrated with original artwork throughout, this book explores the ironclad warships that fought the little-known battles of South America's War of the Pacific. In the late 19th century, a war erupted between Chile and Peru, the catalyst for which was control of guano-rich Chincha islands. Given the geography of the two countries, with a narrow, arid land border and long exposed coastlines, it was inevitable that the War of the Pacific would predominantly be a naval war. It was a unique episode of military history, fought by two newly emergent South American states, using the latest technology – ironclad, steam-powered warships – and involving more naval battles than in the American Civil War, including a blockade, the capture of key warships, and bombardments of ports. Chile's navy was larger and more modern, while Peru's trump card was the small but powerful ironclad Huáscar. In this book, naval expert Angus Konstam offers readers an essential guide to this little-known naval war, illustrated with detailed profiles of the key ironclads, spectacular original artwork of the battles and a cutaway of Huáscar. He briefly covers the strategies of the warring powers as well as exploring all the key points of the naval campaign and the details of the warships involved, as a handful of ironclads fought for naval supremacy in South America.

The Pacific War was the greatest and bloodiest war ever fought in the Andean region, and is one of the most important conflicts in South American history. It is also known as the 'Saltpeter War' or the 'Guano War' because the possession of these two highly profitable nitrates was the main cause of the conflict. By the 1870s Chilean military superiority and expansionist policies exploded into full scale conflict. This book examines the troops, uniforms and equipment used by the Chilean, Peruvian and Bolivian forces and traces the events of the war from the early naval blockades, through major pitched battles, to the final guerilla campaign in occupied Peru. The war ended in total victory for Chile, and that country's military emergence thereafter as 'the Prussia of South America', while it cost Peru some lucrative provinces, and Bolivia its outlet to the Pacific coast.

Superbly illustrated with original artwork throughout, this book explores the ironclad warships that fought the little-known battles of South America's War of the Pacific. In the late 19th century, a war erupted between Chile and Peru, the catalyst for which was control of guano-rich Chincha islands. Given the geography of the two countries, with a narrow, arid land border and long exposed coastlines, it was inevitable that the War of the Pacific would predominantly be a naval war. It was a unique episode of military history, fought by two newly emergent South American states, using the latest technology – ironclad, steam-powered warships – and involving more naval battles than in the American Civil War, including a blockade, the capture of key warships, and bombardments of ports. Chile's navy was larger and more modern, while Peru's trump card was the small but powerful ironclad Huáscar. In this book, naval expert Angus Konstam offers readers an essential guide to this little-known naval war, illustrated with detailed profiles of the key ironclads, spectacular original artwork of the battles and a cutaway of Huáscar. He briefly covers the strategies of the warring powers as well as exploring all the key points of the naval campaign and the details of the warships involved, as a handful of ironclads fought for naval supremacy in South America.

The Pacific War was the greatest and bloodiest war ever fought in the Andean region, and is one of the most important conflicts in South American history. It is also known as the 'Saltpeter War' or the 'Guano War' because the possession of these two highly profitable nitrates was the main cause of the conflict. By the 1870s Chilean military superiority and expansionist policies exploded into full scale conflict. This book examines the troops, uniforms and equipment used by the Chilean, Peruvian and Bolivian forces and traces the events of the war from the early naval blockades, through major pitched battles, to the final guerilla campaign in occupied Peru. The war ended in total victory for Chile, and that country's military emergence thereafter as 'the Prussia of South America', while it cost Peru some lucrative provinces, and Bolivia its outlet to the Pacific coast.

The Pacific War was the climax of the decades-long Wars of Liberation, and is one of the most important conflicts in South American history. After winning their independence from Spain in 1825, Peru and Bolivia became separate nations - but over the following years repeated attempts to re-unite them were frustrated by the neighboring powers, particularly Chile. By the 1870s Chilean military superiority and expansionist policies exploded into full scale conflict. This book examines the troops, uniforms and equipment used by forces on all three sides of the conflict and traces the events of the war from the early naval blockades to the full-scale amphibious landings undertaken by the Chilean forces. The war ended in total victory for Chile, and that country's emergence thereafter as 'the Prussia of South America', while it cost Peru a lucrative province, and Bolivia its outlet to the Pacific coast.

This detailed study of the naval Spanish Civil War describes how the Spanish Navy, torn in two and comprising a Republican and Nationalist part, fought a civil war at sea involving both Hitler's and Mussolini's navies. In July 1936, a pro-fascist coup orchestrated by General Franco tore Spain apart and plunged the country into a bitter civil war. Like Spain itself, the Spanish Navy was torn in two: crews and most ships remained loyal to the Republican government but many of the Navy's officers joined Franco's rebels, and warships under repair or 'mothballed' in southern ports soon fell to the rebel advance. These formed the basis of Franco's 'Nationalist fleet,' and with both Italian and German help, the rebels were able to contest the Republic's control of Spanish waters. Overall the Republican Navy held its own, despite mounting losses, until the collapse of the Republican Army led to the fleet seeking internment in French North Africa. Packed with contemporary photographs and full colour illustrations, this study examines the composition and organization of the two rival fleets, the capabilities of their ships and submarines, and the performance of their crews. It also covers the warships of the Basque Auxiliary Navy - an offshoot of the Republican Fleet - and other navies who played a part in the conflict, most notably the Italian Regia Marina.