The Second Battle of Iquique - a scenario for Dahlgren and Columbiad

 

Peruvian Briefing

You are Captain Miguel Grau, officer commanding the Peruvian ironclad Huascar. You have been tasked with sinking a Chilean corvette, the Abtao, which has been reported as the only enemy warship blockading the port of Iquique at night.

The naval intelligence branch has discovered that the Chilean squadron blockading Iquique withdraws at night leaving only the Abtao to enforce the blockade. You must sink the Abtao but avoid contact with the rest of the Chilean squadron, as you will be outgunned.

You have arrived off Iquique early in the morning but have found no Chilean warships present. However, you have managed to pursue and seriously damage a Chilean collier, the Matías Cousiño. As you close on the collier for a boarding attempt, a lookout spots a Chilean warship approaching, which you assume must be the Abtao, so you have decided to engage.

Chilean Briefing

You are Captain Juan José Latorre, officer commanding the Chilean gunboat Magellanes. Your orders are to patrol off the port of Iquique which is currently being blockaded by a Chilean squadron. The squadron has withdrawn overnight due to the threat of a Peruvian torpedo boat attack, so you are the only naval force present until dawn.

You have to ensure that Peruvian naval forces are not able to break the blockade at night or attack the Chilean transports that are anchored offshore. You must engage any Peruvian warships and hold them off until the rest of the Chilean squadron, under Captain Enrique Simpson Baeza, returns at dawn in the powerful ironclad Almirante Cochrane.

Objectives

The Huascar starts at the centre of the 4' x 3’ table. The Magellanes enters on turn one from the SE corner. The Almirante Cochrane enters on turn six from the E edge of the table. The Peruvian player must capture or sink the Magellanes before the Almirante Cochrane enters on turn four, after which she must attempt to escape via the N table edge. This may be by inflicting sufficient damage to slow her down and sink her or by boarding. The Chilean player must inflict at least heavy damage on the Huascar to force her to withdraw and, if possible, prevent her escape by capturing or sinking her.

Special Rules

This action occurs at night and in the early dawn. As a result, both sides have a -1 modifier to gunnery to reflect the poor visibility.

To reflect the skill of Captain Latorre in manoeuvring the Magellanes during the battle, her MAN rating is increased to High (H).

The Almirante Cochrane has hull-fouling with a consequent reduced maximum speed rating of -1.

(I use 1/2400th scale models and measure in centimetres so you might want to expand the size of the table to 6' x 4', especially if you use 1/1200th or 1/600th scale ships)