Balmaceda’s smaller torpedo-boat force achieved a notable tactical success despite the president’s broader naval weakness. Blanco Encalada became the first armored warship sunk by a self-propelled torpedo. The attack demonstrated that a much smaller craft could destroy an expensive armored capital ship. Congress’s control of the fleet and its supporting systems had already tilted the strategic balance heavily in its favor, so the loss did not reverse the war’s direction.
Notable Point · 1:14:11-1:14:48
Blanco Encalada and the self-propelled torpedo
Blanco Encalada’s loss to torpedo boats marked the first sinking of an armored warship by a self-propelled torpedo and exposed a new threat to capital ships.