Passage of Curupayty (1867)

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1st Passage of Curupayty
Part of the Paraguayan War
File:Passagem de Curupaity a 15 de agosto de 1867. Effectuada pela esquadra encouraçada sob o mando do almirante Joaquim José Ignacio, hoje barão de Inhaúma.jpg
Passage of Curupaiti by Júlio Raison.
Date15 August 1867
Location
Paraguay River, Curupayty Fort, Paraguay
Result Brazilian Navy/Allied victory
Belligerents

File:Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina

File:Flag of Uruguay.svg Uruguay
Commanders and leaders
File:Bandeira do Cruzeiro 20 estrelas 1853-1911.gif Joaquim José Inácio Paraguay Solano López
Strength
18 Warships
3 Flat-bottomed boat
Curupayty Fort with 35 cannons
Casualties and losses
1 damaged warship
25 casualties
1 dead, 2 wounded[1]

The passage of Curupayty was an allied naval operation carried out on 15 August 1867, in the context of the Paraguayan War, which aimed to force the passage of Brazilian battleships against the defensive fortifications installed in the Curupayty fort on the banks of the Paraguay river. There was a second crossing on 13 February 1868 with a fleet of armored monitors destined to join the fleet that had crossed first to form the squadron responsible for forcing the Passage of Humaitá.[2]

The crossing

The difficulties faced by the allies were enormous. The war was already in its third year and they were trapped in a small area in southwest Paraguay, largely due to the disaster that had occurred about a year earlier in the Battle of Curupayty. An advertising victory was urgent to boost troops' morale. Humaitá was the main focus but Curupaiti was on the way.[3] The high command of the Imperial Navy had considered forcing the passage over Curupaiti and Humaitá but considered it a practically impossible feat. Curupaiti was a group of fortifications and trenches, some kilometers downstream from the fortress of Humaitá, and part of the defensive complex of Humaitá.[2] On August 15, 1867, at 6:40 am, the Brazilian Warships went into action. They were:

Division Ship Commander
2nd Division (Rodrigues da Costa) Ironclad Brasil Salgado
Armored corvette Mariz e Barros Neves de Mendonça
Ironclad Tamandaré Elisiário Barbosa
Ironclad Colombo Bernardino de Queiroz
Armored monitor Bahia (flagship) Pereira dos Santos
1st Division (Tôrres e Alvim) Ironclad Cabral Gerônimo Gonçalves
Ironclad Barroso Silveira da Mota
Ironclad Herval Mimede Simões
Ironclad Silvado Macedo Coimbra
Ironclad Lima Barros (flagship) Garsino de Sá

At this point, the river had two channels. One was deeper, but it was closer to the enemy batteries, and the current was stronger. In the other channel, the risk of stranding was very great; in addition, a Paraguayan defector claimed that torpedoes had been placed there recently. Inácio chose to follow the channel closest to the batteries, and his choice was correct. While the wooden vessels of the imperial navy suppressed fire, the warships crossed Curupaiti. Each ship took about 40 minutes to pass.[2] Some ships were badly damaged. A shot penetrated the Tamandaré through one of its hatches, killing or injuring 14 of its crew. His engine had been damaged and stopped, leaving them adrift under the arms of the fort; he was rescued by Silvado, who threw a cable at them and took them in tow.Tamandaré commander Elisário Barbosa lost his left arm. According to Commander Kennedy, the accident with the Tamandaré forced Colombo, who was behind, to stop the engines to avoid a collision between the boats. The strong current placed them side by side, making maneuverability impossible. Colombo approached the Paraguayan cannons, which caused serious damage before he could leave his dangerous position. There were 25 Brazilian casualties including 3 dead. Warships, taking the channel closest to the Paraguayan cannons, escaped a more serious danger, as soon after the passage several torpedoes were found in the other channel.[4]

References

  1. "Victoria!" [Victory!]. El Semanario (in Spanish). Asunción. 1867-08-17. Retrieved 2023-08-25.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Donato, Hernâni (1996). Dicionário das batalhas brasileiras (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Instituição Brasileira de Difusão Cultural. ISBN 978-85-348-0034-1. OCLC 36768251.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  3. Whigham, Thomas (2017). The Road to Armageddon: Paraguay Versus the Triple Alliance, 1866-70. University of Calgary Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-55238-809-9.
  4. Donato, Hernâni (1996). Dicionário das batalhas brasileiras (in português do Brasil). IBRASA. ISBN 978-85-348-0034-1.