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Rh boarded by a boat from the Cochrane. Lieutenant Garczon surrendered to the boarding officers, who found that there were three feet of water in the ship's hold, and the lining of the pilot turret had caught fire. Dead and wounded were lying in every direction, their bodies fearfully mutilated, and the captain's cabin was literally filled with corpses. Upper and lower decks were alike drenched in blood and strewn with dead and wounded. The Huascar went into action with 193 officers and men; of this number, 64, almost exactly one third, were killed or wounded, and the officer by whom the ship was surrendered was the sixth in rank when the battle began, only 90 minutes before. The five who ranked him had been killed or mortally wounded!

No torpedoes were used in the fight, and of all the attempts at ramming none were successful. The contest was thus confined to artillery, with the exception of the use of small-arms and machine guns when the vessels were at close quarters. The Cochrane fired 46 rounds, and the Blanco 31, using Palliser shells. Of these 77 shots fired by the Chilians, only 24 touched the Huascar; the shells burst after penetration, showing that the 4½-inch plating of the Huascar was useless. The Huascar fired about 40 rounds, and her guns were served rapidly but without good aim. Only a few of her shot struck the Cochrane. Those that struck her at a distance of 600 yards and at an angle of 30 degrees penetrated about three inches, but were broken by the force of the impact. They broke an iron beam and started some of the bolts and inner linings, but compared with the effect of the Chilian shells on the Huascar they were of no serious consequence. The armor of the Chilian iron-clad is 9 inches thick at the water line, and 7 or 8 inches round the battery.

With the capture of the Huascar the Chilians obtained practically the control of the sea, and could send their troops where they pleased. They could despatch a fleet