''Yavari'' is a British-built iron steamship commissioned (along with her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

'' Yapura'') by the

Peruvian Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...

government in 1861 for use on

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...

by the

Peruvian Navy The Peruvian Navy (, abbreviated MGP) is the branch of the Peruvian Military of Peru, Armed Forces tasked with surveillance, patrol and defense on lakes, rivers and the Pacific Ocean up to from the Peruvian littoral. Additional missions include ...

. She is named after the

Javary River The Javary River, Javari River or Yavarí River (; ) is a tributary of the Amazon that forms the boundary between Brazil and Peru for more than . It is navigable by canoe for from above its mouth to its source in the Ucayali highlands, but o ...

in the

Loreto Region Loreto () is Peru's northernmost department and region. Covering almost one-third of Peru's territory, Loreto is by far the nation's largest department, slightly smaller than Japan; it is also one of the most sparsely populated regions due to ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, bordering the Amazonas State (

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

), and was the first steamship to cross the highest navigable waters in the world. Currently the ship functions as a museum and

bed and breakfast A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...

with bunk accommodation and is the oldest iron lake steamer afloat.

Construction

In 1862 Thames Ironworks in

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

built the iron-hulled ''Yavari'' and ''Yapura'' under contract to the

James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was f ...

Foundry of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. The ships were designed as combined cargo, passenger and

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

s for the Peruvian Navy. The ships were built in "knock down" form; that is, they were assembled with nuts and bolts at the shipyard, dismantled into thousands of parts small enough to transport, and shipped to their final destination to be assembled with rivets and launched on the lake. The kits for the two ships consisted of a total of 2,766 pieces between them. Each piece was no more than 3.5. cwt—what a

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...

could carry—because the railway from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

port of

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the ca ...

went only , as far as

Tacna Tacna, officially known as San Pedro de Tacna, is a city in southern Peru and the regional capital of the Tacna Region. A very commercially active city, it is located only north of the border with Arica y Parinacota Region from Chile, inland f ...

. From there pack mules had to carry them the remaining to Puno on the lake at 3,812 metres above the sea level. The original British contractor got the parts to Tacna but failed to complete the section of the journey with mules. This was not resumed until 1868 and the first plates for ''Yavari''s hull were laid at Puno in 1869. ''Yavari'' was launched in 1870 and ''Yapura'' in 1873. ''Yavari'' was long and had a two-cylinder

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

, which was fuelled with dried

llama The llama (; or ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with ...

dung. In 1914, ''Yavari''s hull was extended in 15 meters to increase her cargo capacity. At the same time she was re-engined as a

motor vessel A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship Marine propulsion, propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The names of motor ships are often Ship prefix, prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V. Engines for motorships were develo ...

with a Bolinder four-cylinder

hot bulb engine The hot-bulb engine, also known as a semi-diesel or Akroyd engine, is a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel Combustion, ignites by coming in contact with a red-hot metal surface inside a bulb, followed by the introduction of air (ox ...

Service history

Even though peace had already been signed with the

Treaty of Ancón The Treaty of Ancón was a peace treaty signed by Chile and Peru on 20 October 1883, in Ancón, near Lima. It was intended to settle the two nations' remaining territorial differences at the conclusion of their involvement in the War of the Paci ...

between Peru and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

to end the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...

on October 20, 1883, Rear Admiral

Lizardo Montero Juan Lizardo Montero Flores (May 27, 1832 – February 2, 1905) was a Peruvian military officer and politician who held the provisional Presidency of Peru from 1881 to 1883, replacing President Francisco García Calderón, during the Chilean occ ...

and General César Canevaro resisted in

Arequipa Arequipa (; Aymara language, Aymara and ), also known by its nicknames of ''Ciudad Blanca'' (Spanish for "White City") and ''León del Sur'' (Spanish for "South's Lion"), is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous Arequipa (province), ...

. Pursued by Chilean forces, they retreat to

Puno Puno ( Aymara and ) is a city in southeastern Peru, located on the shore of Lake Titicaca. It is the capital city of the Puno Region and the Puno Province with a population of approximately 140,839 (2015 estimate). The city was established in ...

and negotiate more support from Bolivia. Upon reaching Puno, on the shore of Titicaca, they boarded with their men the steam gunboats ''Yavarí'' and ''Yapurá'', to march towards the lake port of Chililaya, in Bolivia, where General

Narciso Campero Narciso Campero Leyes (29 October 1813 – 12 August 1896) was a Bolivian general and politician who served as the 20th president of Bolivia from 1880 to 1884. He was a member of the Liberal Party. The Narciso Campero Province was named afte ...

was waiting for him with two Bolivian battalions to resume hostilities against Chile. However, a Chilean division arrived in Puno on November 4, 1883 and its local authorities immediately handed over the place, declaring themselves in favor of peace and the government of Miguel Iglesias. The Chilean forces transported by rail from the port of

Mollendo Mollendo is a town on the Pacific Ocean in southern Peru. It is located in the Arequipa Region and is the capital of both the Islay Province and the Mollendo District. Mollendo was the main port on the Peruvian southern coast until Matarani was ...

the torpedo boat ''Colo Colo'' and launched there into the waters of Lake Titicaca, where it carried out patrolling operations to prevent communications, control the guerrillas and the military use of the lake. The end of the Pacific War came with an impoverished Peruvian government, so in 1890 UK investors established the

Peruvian Corporation The Peruvian Corporation Ltd. (alternate: Peruvian Corporation of London) was registered under the Companies Act in London on 20 March 1890. Its board of directors included ten members led by Sir Alfred Dent G A Ollard, of Smiles and Co Solicitors ...

which took over the concession to operate Peru's railways and lake ships. In 1975 Peru nationalised the corporation and ''Yavari'' and ''Yapura'' passed to the state railway company ENAFER. In 1976 they were transferred back to the Peruvian Navy, who converted ''Yapura'' into a

hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating healthcare, medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navy, navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or ...

and renamed her BAP ''Puno'' but discarded ''Yavari''. In 1987 charitable interests bought ''Yavari'' to restore her. She is now moored at Puno Bay where she provides static tourist accommodation while undergoing full restoration. In 2015, with restoration almost complete, a group of young East Enders sponsored by the West Ham United Foundation trekked over the Andes from Tacna to Puno following the original route of the ''Yavari''. With historian Stephen Pewsey they participated in a "second maiden voyage" on Lake Titicaca, accompanied by the British Ambassador to

, H.E.

Anwar Choudhury Anwar Bakht Choudhury (; born 15 June 1959) is a British diplomat of Bangladeshi origin. Through his career, he has served as Governor of the Cayman Islands, British Ambassador to Peru, Director of International Institutions at the Foreign & ...

References

External links

Yavari Project
— history and current state of the ship {{coord, 15.8259, S, 69.9971, W, source:wikidata, display=title 1870 ships Ships built in Leamouth Museum ships in Peru ''Yavari''

Construction

Service history

References

Further reading

External links