| First Chilean Navy Squadron | |
|---|---|
| Primera Escuadra Nacional de Chile | |
 Departure of the First Chilean Navy Squadron on 9 October 1818, Thomas Somerscales | |
| Active | 1817–1826 |
| Country |  Chile |
| Branch | Chilean Navy |
| Type | Navy |
| Role | Naval warfare |
| Engagements | Spanish American wars of independence |
| Commanders | |
| Supreme commander | Bernardo O'Higgins Ramón Freire |
| Fleet commander | Manuel Encalada Thomas Cochrane |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol |  |
The First Chilean Navy Squadron was the heterogeneous naval force that terminated Spanish colonial rule in the Pacific and protagonized the most important naval actions of in the Latin American wars of independence.[1] The Chilean revolutionary government organized the squadron in order to carry the war to the Viceroyalty of Perú, then the center of Spanish power in South America, and thus secure the independence of Chile and Argentina.
- ^ Georg von Rauch, Conflict in the Southern Cone, ISBN 0-275-96347-0, Praeger publishers, 1999, page 143