The presidential side used the new torpedo gunboats Almirante Condell and Almirante Lynch against the congressional flagship at Caldera Bay. The attack revealed how fast, small craft armed with Whitehead torpedoes could threaten an older ironclad that lacked modern quick-firing close-in defence. Blanco Encalada maintained only a small watch, and the attackers were detected at roughly 500 yards despite needing help from a merchant steamer to reach the area. The sinking therefore demonstrates both a technological transition and an avoidable security failure: a powerful ship remained vulnerable when alertness, screening, and modernization lagged behind the weapon threat.
Notable Point · 2:27:18-2:32:51
Caldera Bay and the Whitehead torpedo's warning
Blanco Encalada became the first armoured warship sunk by self-propelled torpedoes when presidential torpedo boats attacked at Caldera Bay.