 "Esmeralda" faced the ironclad at the Naval Battle of Iquique, and "Covadonga" manage to escape from the attacks of the Peruvian ironclad when the latter collided with a submerged rock and sank, after trying to ram the schooner, Naval Battle of Punta Gruesa, both on 21 May 1879.On 13 September 1880, while enforcing a blockade in the port of Chancay, Peru, the sailors of "Covadonga" saw an unmanned boat loaded with fresh fruit and produce being carried by the currents.When they tried to lift the boat it exploded as the Peruvians had rigged it as a floating mine.