Capture of the frigate Esmeralda

Capture of the frigate Esmeralda
Part of Peruvian War of Independence
Capture of the frigate Esmeralda in the bay of Callao, L, Colet, Club Naval, Valparaíso.
Date 5-6 November 1820 Location Callao, Viceroyalty of Peru Result Chilean victory
Belligerents
Chile	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Thomas Cochrane (WIA) Thomas Crosbie Martin Guise	Antonio Vacaro Juan Francisco Sánchez Luis Coig
Strength
240 sailors & marines 14 boats	1 frigate 2 brigs 1 pailebot 14-24 gunboats some armed merchants several harbour batteries
Casualties and losses
11 killed 22 wounded	1 frigate captured 3 gunboats captured

The Capture of the frigate Esmeralda was a naval operation conducted on the night of 5 to 6 November 1820. A division of boats with sailors and marines of the First Chilean Navy Squadron, commanded by Thomas Cochrane, stealthily advanced towards Callao and captured the ship through a boarding attack.^{[Note 1]} Esmeralda was the flagship of Spanish fleet and the main objective of the operation.^[1] She was protected by a strong military defense that the Royalists had organized in the port.

Both Chilean^[2] and Spanish^[3] historiography considers that as a result of this naval action the importance or maritime influence of the Spanish Navy in the Pacific disappeared completely. British historians Brian Vale^[4] and David J. Cubitt^[5] follow the same line of opinion when affirming that Spain had unquestionably lost control of the sea against the Chilean Navy.

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