chilean battleship unique ironclad battleship built late 1880s completed armed main battery guns single turrets battleship world equipped electrical system built dockyard france commissioned chilean fleet foreign navies tried purchase ship twice outbreak wars including american attempt japanese offer served fleet years disarmed accordance treaty signed argentina intended stop naval arms race countries ship returned service remained active duty fleet reduced coastal defense ship submarine tender disarmed training ship engineers remained navy inventory sold scrap design feet long perpendiculars beam displaced metric tons long tons short tons draft hull steel built wood copper equipped ram bow ship mounted masts fighting tops crew officers enlisted men powered pair horizontal expansion engines supplied steam cylindrical boilers boilers funnels centerline propulsion system rated indicated horsepower speed mph designed carry long tons short tons coal carry long tons short tons battleship navy utilize electricity power machinery ship armed main battery caliber guns single electrically powered turrets placed forward centerline mounted amidships fourth located aft superstructure centerline secondary battery consisted guns twin turrets mounted foremast mainmast close range defense torpedo boats provided battery pounder guns pounder guns pounder guns armed torpedo tubes deck mounted launchers bow stern broadside ship armor consisted steel armored belt thick amidships waterline waterline belt reduced forward aft belt waterline end ship belt extended waterline citadel thick protected ship machinery spaces amidships extended upper deck closed ends bulkheads thick outside citadel deck protected thick armor barbettes main battery guns thick thick protect gun crews conning tower thick sides service history august passed law authorizing construction new vessels fleet decided order new battleship foreign shipyard contract constructing new chilean battleship european shipyards sought british german french contract awarded shipyard france april cost ship agreed laid ship launched december commissioned chilean fleet arrived chile received favorable reviews contemporary naval critics seen prime example combining high speed good armament armor protection heralded powerful war ship possessed south american government sic vessel present commission united_states_navy construction ship helped begin naval arms race chile argentina addition ordered new protected cruisers pair torpedo boats argentina responded battleships race continued 1890s expensive chilean civil war race culminated orders armored cruisers class battleships purchased united_kingdom british concerned possibility war countries agreement resulted treaty ended expensive arms race stipulated countries arrive agreement balance fleets led argentine armored cruisers later rearmed march shortly outbreak spanish american war navy attempted purchase bolster fleet coming conflict spain negotiations fell ship remained chile prelude russo japanese war japanese government looked purchasing cruiser south american warships eventually purchased commissioned imperial_japanese_navy ship seen comparison newer armored cruisers fleet ship modernized included installation new boilers place old cylindrical boilers increasing ship speed mph height funnels increased march suffered magazine explosion anchored port cases bad aft main battery magazine exploded construction ship provided quick explosion defects cases allowed explosive escape easily saved ship destruction time years old maximum life span reduced coast defense ship ship designated submarine tender chile brien class submarines disarmed serve mechanical training school old battleship ultimately sold scrap
Chilean battleship Capitán Prat