🌎 Latin American Warshard
Battle of Iquique
1879 CE · Iquique, Chile/Peru
Quick Facts
- Year
- 1879 CE
- Location
- Iquique, Chile/Peru
- Era
- 🌎 Latin American Wars
- Difficulty
- hard

During the War of the Pacific, the Chilean wooden corvette Esmeralda engaged the powerful Peruvian ironclad Huascar off Iquique. Captain Arturo Prat led a boarding attempt against the ironclad and was killed on its deck. Though the Esmeralda was sunk, Prat's sacrifice became the defining heroic moment of Chilean national identity.
💡 ¿Sabías que...?
Captain Arturo Prat's last words before boarding the Huascar are debated, but the most famous version has him crying 'Board her, boys!' His sacrifice at Iquique is commemorated as Chilean Navy Day every May 21st.