BAP Puno

Last updated

Puno (ex-Yapari) (5690588618).jpg
BAP Puno in her namesake port of Puno
History
Flag of the Peruvian Navy.svg Peru
NameYapura (1872–1976)
Namesake Puno
Owner Peruvian Navy
Ordered1861
Builder Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company
Laid down1861
Launched1872
CommissionedMay 18, 1872
RenamedBAP Puno since 1976
StatusIn service
General characteristics
Class and typeYavarí class gunboat
Displacement140 tons
Length100 ft (30 m)
Speed10 knots (19 km/h) [1]
NotesCapacity for 180 tonnes of cargo [1]

BAP Puno (ABH-306) is a Peruvian Navy hospital ship on Lake Titicaca. Until 1976 she was called Yapura. She is named after the Yapura River (or Caqueta River) that flows into the Amazon River in Department of Loreto, Peru. The Yapura river was the former border between Peru and Colombia in the Amazonia. It was an iron steam ship commissioned (along with her sister ship Yavarí) by the Peruvian government in 1861 for use on the lake by the Peruvian Navy. She is one of the oldest operational iron-hulled ships in the world, and is the oldest first-line military ship.

Contents

Construction

The Peruvian government led by Ramón Castilla ordered Yapura and her sister ship Yavari in 1861. [2] In 1862 Thames Ironworks on the River Thames built the iron-hulled Yavari and Yapura under contract to the James Watt Foundry of Birmingham. [2] The ships were designed as combined cargo, passenger and gunboats for the Peruvian Navy. [2] Puno has her original 60 horsepower (45 kW) two-cylinder steam engine, which is fuelled with dried llama dung. [2]

The ships were built in "knock down" form; that is, they were assembled with bolts and nuts at the shipyard, dismantled into thousands of parts small enough to transport, and shipped to their final destination to be assembled with rivets and launched on the lake. The kits for the two ships consisted of a total 2,766 pieces between them. [2] Each piece was no more than 3.5.  cwt—what a mule could carry(C. 177 kg)—because the railway from the Pacific Ocean port of Arica went only 40 miles (64 km), as far as Tacna. [2] From there pack mules had to carry them the remaining 220 miles (350 km) to Puno on the lake. [2]

The original British contractor got the parts to Tacna but failed to complete the section of the journey with mules. [2] This was not resumed until 1868 and Yapura was not launched until 1873. [2] The Peruvian Corporation carried out two important remodellings to the original ship: between 1927 and 1929 it elevated the propellor, taking care not to spoil its gauge; and in 1956 it changed the old engine for a Paxman Ricardo of English manufacture (1948) with 12 cylinders in V, with a power of 410 HP allowing a speed of 10 knots.

Service history

On May 2, 1873, the "Yapurá" sailed for the first time in the Titicaca Lake under the command of corvette captain Manuel Mariano Melgar.

Even though peace had already been signed with the Treaty of Ancón between Peru and Chile to end the War of the Pacific on October 20, 1883, Rear Admiral Lizardo Montero and General César Canevaro resisted in Arequipa. Pursued by Chilean forces, they retreated to Puno and negotiated more support from Bolivia. Upon reaching Puno, on the shore of Titicaca, they boarded with their men the steam gunboats Yavarí and Yapurá, to sail towards the lake port of Chililaya, in Bolivia, where General Narciso Campero was waiting for them with two Bolivian battalions to resume hostilities against Chile.

However, a Chilean division arrived in Puno on November 4, 1883 and its local authorities immediately handed over the place, declaring themselves in favor of peace and the government of Miguel Iglesias. The Chilean forces transported by rail from the port of Mollendo to Puno the torpedo boat Colo Colo and launched it into the waters of Lake Titicaca, where it carried out patrolling operations to prevent communications, control the guerrillas and the military use of the lake.[ clarification needed ]

By the end of the war the Peruvian government was impoverished, so in 1890 UK investors established the Peruvian Corporation which took over the concession to operate Peru's railways and lake ships. [2] In 1975 Peru nationalised the corporation and Yavari and Yapura passed to the state railway company ENAFER. [2] In 1976 they were transferred back the Peruvian Navy, and renamed as BAP Puno, the name of the locality of its Base port, and assigning it to passenger and cargo transportation tasks and as a Coast Guard of lake naval force. In 1993, the BAP Puno was converted into a hospital ship [1] and renamed BAP Puno. [2]

Related Research Articles

This article describes the transport in Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Titicaca</span> Large freshwater lake on the border of Peru and Bolivia

Lake Titicaca is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America both in terms of the volume of water and surface area. It has a surface elevation of 3,812 m (12,507 ft).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War of the Pacific</span> Territorial conflict between Chile and allied Peru and Bolivia (1879–83)

The War of the Pacific, also known as the Nitrate War and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Chilean claims on coastal Bolivian territory in the Atacama Desert, the war ended with victory for Chile, which gained a significant amount of resource-rich territory from Peru and Bolivia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peruvian Navy</span> Naval branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces

The Peruvian Navy is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with surveillance, patrol and defense on lakes, rivers and the Pacific Ocean up to 200 nautical miles from the Peruvian littoral. Additional missions include assistance in safeguarding internal security, conducting disaster relief operations and participating in international peacekeeping operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Puno</span> Departments of Peru

Puno is a department and region in southeastern Peru. It is the fifth largest department in Peru, after Cuzco, Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto. It is bordered by Bolivia on the east, the departments of Madre de Dios on the north, Cusco and Arequipa on the west, Moquegua on the southwest, and Tacna on the south. Its capital is the city of Puno, which is located on Lake Titicaca in the geographical region known as the Altiplano or high sierra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company</span> Former shipbuilders in London

The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side. Its main activity was shipbuilding, but it also diversified into civil engineering, marine engines, cranes, electrical engineering and motor cars.

<i>Yavari</i> (ship) British-built Peruvian iron steamship

Yavari is a British-built iron steamship commissioned by the Peruvian government in 1861 for use on Lake Titicaca by the Peruvian Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PeruRail</span> Peruvian rail service

PeruRail is a railway operator providing tourist, freight, and charter services in southern Peru. It was founded in 1999 by two Peruvian entrepreneurs and the British company Sea Containers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail transport in Peru</span>

Rail transport in Peru has a varied history. Peruvian rail transport has never formed a true network, primarily comprising separate lines running inland from the coast and built according to freight need rather than passenger need.

Earle's Shipbuilding was an engineering company that was based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England from 1845 to 1932.

The Morenada is an Andean folk dance whose origins are still under debate. This dance is practiced mainly in Bolivia as well as in Peru and in recent years with Bolivian immigration in Chile, Argentina and other countries.

SS <i>Coya</i>

SS Coya is a 19th-century iron-hulled steamship on Lake Titicaca in Peru. After a long history carrying freight and passengers she is currently a floating restaurant.

SS Inca was a steamship on Lake Titicaca in Peru.

SS <i>Ollanta</i>

SS Ollanta, built in England in 1931, is a steamship on Lake Titicaca in Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torpedo boats in the War of the Pacific</span>

The introduction of fast torpedo boats in the late 19th century was a serious concern to navies of an era that saw a number of innovations in naval warfare, including the first torpedo boats, which carried spar torpedoes, steam propulsion and steel ships.

Colo Colo was a Colo Colo-class torpedo boat built for the Chilean Navy in 1880. The torpedo boat participated in the War of the Pacific, where it fought in the blockade of Callao and patrolled Lake Titicaca in the final phase of that war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capture of the corvette Pilcomayo</span> Battle of the Naval campaign of the War of the Pacific

The Capture of the corvette Pilcomayo was a battle of the Naval campaign of the War of the Pacific. In the battle, the Peruvian gunboat Pilcomayo was captured by the Chilean ironclad Blanco Encalada after a brief confrontation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicolás Portal</span> Peruvian captain (???–1892)

Nicolás Federico Portal was a Peruvian captain and politician during the War of the Pacific. He is known for being the captain of the BAP Unión throughout the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolivian–Peruvian territorial dispute</span> Territorial dispute from 1825 to 1909

The Bolivian–Peruvian territorial dispute was a territorial dispute between Bolivia and Peru that lasted from the former's independence in 1825 to the signing of the Polo–Bustamante Treaty in 1909.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Condecoran al BAP Puno por seguir prestando servicio". El Comercio . Empresa Editora El Comercio S.A. 11 November 2007. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "History of The Ship". Yavari - Lake Titicaca - Peru. The Yavari Project. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2011.

Bibliography