Capture of the frigate Esmeralda

Capture of the frigate Esmeralda
	Part of Peruvian War of Independence
	; Capture of the frigate Esmeralda in the bay of Callao, L, Colet, Club Naval, Valparaíso.
Date	5-6 November 1820
Location	Callao, Viceroyalty of Peru
Result	Chilean victory
Belligerents
Chile	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Thomas Cochrane (WIA); Thomas Crosbie; Martin Guise	Antonio Vacaro; Juan Francisco Sánchez; Luis Coig
Strength
240 sailors & marines; 14 boats	1 frigate; 2 brigs; 1 pailebot; 14-24 gunboats; some armed merchants; several harbour batteries
Casualties and losses
11 killed; 22 wounded	1 frigate captured; 3 gunboats captured

The capture of the frigate Esmeralda was a naval operation conducted on the nights of 5 and 6 November 1820. A division of boats with sailors and marines of the First Chilean Navy Squadron, commanded by Thomas Cochrane, stealthily advanced towards Callao and captured the ship through a boarding attack. Esmeralda was the flagship of Spanish fleet and the main objective of the operation. She was protected by a strong military defense that the Royalists had organized in the port.

Both Chilean and Spanish historiography considers that as a result of this naval action the importance or maritime influence of the Spanish Navy in the Pacific disappeared completely. British historians Brian Vale and David J. Cubitt follow the same line of opinion when affirming that Spain had unquestionably lost control of the sea against the Chilean Navy.

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