Paquete de Maule was a small merchant sidewheel steamer built in the United States in 1861 for operation along the Chilean coast. Converted into a gunboat for service during the Chincha Islands War, she was captured by Spain and scuttled shortly thereafter.
Paquete de Maule
The Chincha Islands War, also known as Spanish–South American War, was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia from 1865 to 1879. The conflict began with Spain's seizure of the guano-rich Chincha Islands in one of a series of attempts by Spain, under Isabella II, to reassert its influence over its former South American colonies. The war saw the use of ironclads, including the Spanish ship Numancia, the first ironclad to circumnavigate the world.
The guano-rich Chincha Islands of Peru in 1863
The Chincha Islands of Peru were occupied by Spanish marines on April 14, 1864.
A Peruvian battery during the Battle of Callao
Numancia, flagship of the Spanish fleet