''Lautaro'' was a sailing frigate of the

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy () is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense (Chile), Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Ori ...

, originally purchased for use as a

hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...

, but later put into service as a training ship.

Ship history

The ''Majestic'', ''County of Peebles'' and ''British Commodore'' were three dismasted ship hulls bought by the Chilean Navy in 1898 in order to be beached and used as

coaling station Fuelling stations, also known as coaling stations, are repositories of fuel (initially coal and later oil) that have been located to service commercial and naval vessels. Today, the term "coaling station" can also refer to coal storage and feedi ...

s for Chilean warships in the sparsely populated region of the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...

as the

Argentine–Chilean naval arms race In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the South American nations of Argentina and Chile engaged in an expensive naval arms race to ensure the other would not gain supremacy in the Southern Cone. Although the Argentine and Chilea ...

put both countries at the brink of war. After the purchase from the Brocklebank Line, the ''Majestic'' was loaded with

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

in England and towed to

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (, historically known as Sandy Point in English) is the capital List of cities in Chile, city of Chile's southernmost Regions of Chile, region, Magallanes Region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. Although officially renamed as ...

. As the hull was considered seaworthy by the navy, the government decided to refit the ship to be used as training ship for seamen cadets. She was repaired in

Talcahuano Talcahuano () (From Mapudungun ''Tralkawenu'', "Thundering Sky") is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile. ...

, and in 1904 was renamed ''Lautaro''. Two years later, the cruiser ''Errázuriz'' (1890) became a school ship for seamen cadets replacing the ''Lautaro'' and the ''Lautaro'' sailed bound for Australia, Peru and Mexico in commercial use. In September 1919 she sailed for Japan loaded with 2,750 tons of

saltpetre Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with a sharp, salty, bitter taste and the chemical formula . It is a potassium salt of nitric acid. This salt consists of potassium cations and nitrate anions , and is therefore an alkali metal nitrate ...

, finally returning to Chile in January 1921 with a cargo of weapons and explosives for the Chilean Army. She was stationed off the

Quiriquina Island Quiriquina Island, Chile is located at the entrance to the Bay of Concepción, 11 km north of Talcahuano. (''Quiriquina'' is a Mapuche word meaning "many True thrushes"). In April, 1557, Don Garcia de Mendoza, Spanish governor of the Capta ...

and used as drill ship for seaman cadets until 1950. The ship was finally sold on 5 June 1954.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lautaro (1860) 1875 ships Auxiliary ships of the Chilean Navy Ships built in Belfast Ships built by Harland and Wolff