Why Blanco Encalada used twin-shaft steam power

Did Blanco Encalada have steam power, and why did she use two shafts?

Yes. Six boilers fed two trunk engines and two shafts, giving the ship propulsion redundancy if one side failed.

Blanco Encalada did have steam propulsion in addition to her sailing rig. Six cylindrical boilers supplied two trunk steam engines, each contributing to the twin-shaft arrangement. Dividing propulsion between two shafts reduced the chance that one machinery failure would remove all powered movement. The configuration therefore joined ordinary performance requirements to a simple form of combat and engineering redundancy.