about eight o'clock
She brought word that the two monitors had been the _ Manco Capac _ and _ Atahualpa _ , and that the Hereschoff torpedo-boat , under Juarez , had blown up the latter , but had herself been destroyed by the _ Manco Capac _ . Three men only had been rescued from her crew , and these were on board the _ Cochrane 's _ boat , which had herself lost nearly three-quarters of her men . Taking it all round , however , the attacking force had not done so badly , having destroyed a two thousand-ton ironclad and sunk a hulk full of men and guns , with a loss of one small torpedo-boat , and seventeen men killed . Jim then gave orders for the wounded to be made as comfortable as possible under the circumstances , and the two launches continued their journey back to the fleet , which was reached about eight o'clock . The young man immediately made his report to the commodore , and the latter , who seemed to have no mind of his own , then called another council of officers to decide whether they should enter the bay and destroy the _ Manco Capac _ and the forts , or whether they should take up the pursuit of the other three Peruvian warships which had eluded them in so mysterious a way . It was unanimously decided to pursue , so as to prevent them from doing any further damage ; and Riveros therefore divided his squadron into two parts , consisting of the _ Almirante Cochrane _ and _ Blanco Encalada _ in one division ; and the _ O'Higgins , Loa _ , and _ Mathias Cousino _ in the other . One column , consisting of the three latter vessels , was to steam a hundred miles due westward , and then head south , while the admiral would proceed in the same direction , but would keep close in along the coast .