OHiggins was a Chilean armoured cruiser. OHiggins was built by the British shipbuilder Armstrong to the design of Philip Watts, and served with the Chilean Navy between 1898 and 1933.
OHiggins main armament consisted of four EOC 8 inch 40 caliber| 40 calibre guns in single turrets, with two on the ship's centreline fore and aft and two port and starboard in line with the forward funnel. Ten QF 6 inch /40 naval gun| 40 calibre guns were fitted, with six in casemates and the remaining four in single turrets. Four QF 4.7 inchMk V naval gun| guns, ten 12-pounder guns and ten 6-pounder guns completed OHigginss gun armament. All guns were designed and built by Armstrongs. Three torpedo tubes were fitted, with two submerged tubes on the ship's beam and one above the waterline right aft. The main protection was a belt of armour along the side of the ship, long and deep, which was thick around the ship's machinery, reducing to fore and aft. An armoured deck protected the whole length and beam of the ship, with between and thick armour. The ship's hull was clad in copper and wood to reduce fouling. The ship was powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, supplied by 30 Bellevillewater-tube boilers, driving two shafts. These engines generated and propelled the ship to. Up to of coal could be carried, giving a range of at.
Operational history
While OHiggins was nearing completion at Elswick in the winter of 1897, tensions were growing between Spain and the United States of America over the ongoing rebellion in Cuba. Rumours circulated that Spain was trying to strengthen its navy in case of war with the United States by purchasing warships from other countries. The rumoured targets for Spain included OHiggins, the newly completed Chilean armoured cruiser and the protected cruiser also nearing completion for Chile at Elswicks. As the outbreak of the Spanish–American War became more likely, the United States also attempted to supplement its fleet by purchasing, amongst other ships, OHiggins, but the negotiations did not result in the sale of the Chilean warship, and OHiggins arrived at Valparaiso on 25 July 1898. The ship hosted a meeting between the President of Chile, Federico Errázuriz Echaurren and the ArgentinePresidentJulio Argentino Roca at Punta Arenas on 15 February 1899, to normalise relations between the two countries. This meeting became known as the "Embrace of the Straits". The ship was sent to Panama in 1903 as a result of the confrontation between the United States and Columbia that was ended by the separation of Panama from Colombia. In 1919, OHiggins was fitted with a floatplane that could be lowered to and from the sea for operations by crane. On 12 March 1920, OHiggins collided with the Chilean cargo ship SS Llai Llai at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Llai Llai sank. An aircraft crashed into OHiggins on 24 August 1920, killing the pilot. The ship was refitted twice, in 1919–1920 and 1928–29. In 1931, OHiggins was involved in the large scale mutiny that swept the Chilean fleet, being seized by its crew on 1 September 1931. OHiggins was decommissioned in 1933 and scrapped in 1958.
