Originally posted by HoOmAn
It seems as if in every story they are easily caught unprepared by superior numbers in favorable positions who easily dispatch any force.
- Ilo: Peruvians appear in superior numbers and in a favorable position and easily dispatch a Chilean destroyer squadron.
- Totugas Bay: Airplanes versus battleship.
- Gulf of Guayaquil: Both sides blunder around at night and get nothing done.
- Pisco Raid: Chileans attack a Peruvian port and sink three ships at anchor.
- Barranca: Somewhat valid criticism, but only just. The Chileans fumble a major opportunity and suffer more damage than the ships they ambushed. If the Atlanteans hadn't been present to continue the battle, then it would have been an overall loss. Even now, I count it as a draw.
- Pucusana Raid: The Chileans arrive in overwhelming force, get confused by a tiny minesweeper, blunder around at night, nearly torpedo one of their own, and run their flagship aground for a total loss. The Peruvians lose a single small supply ship.
- Islay: The Chileans finally manage to do something right and not fumble the ball.
I wrote my fleet almost constantly bungling good opportunities or in the case of Ilo, getting completely hammered by the Peruvians. I will admit, I wanted one "clean" battle for the Chileans to be proud of - a price, if you will, for all that earlier poor performance. That's the Battle of Islay. Even Islay is not a case of Chilean overwhelming superiority: it's five versus four, certainly; but the Peruvians have just as many guns and nearly as many torpedoes. The Peruvian ships are all faster and newer (although the Orellas have been recently rebuilt).
The Peruvians have every reason to be proud of their overall performance in this war. They had a lot of disadvantages in size, and still managed to come out with relatively minor losses and a few telling victories. The Chileans, on the other hand, are going to sit down after the war and seriously analyze what they did wrong. The Chilean Army never conducted a single operation against the enemy, and the FACh fought one air battle against one division of the Peruvian air force before they ran low on parts and fuel. The Navy fought more, but hardly earned a reputation for it.