Agustín Arturo Prat Chacón (; April 3, 1848 – May 21, 1879) was a Chilean lawyer and navy officer. He was killed in the Battle of Iquique, during the War of the Pacific.
During his career, Prat had taken part in several naval engagements, including battles at Papudo (1865), and at the Abtao (1866). Following his death, his name became a rallying cry for Chilean forces, and Arturo Prat has since been considered a national hero.
Prat's name is commemorated on numerous plazas (squares), streets, buildings and other structures in Chile. His name has been commemorated by four of Chile's major warships, including a in the 1950s, a British from 1983 to 2006, and most recently a Dutch transferred to Chile as Capitan Prat in 2006. One of Chile's Antarctic research facilities, Arturo Prat Station, and the Chilean Naval Academy, Escuela Naval Arturo Prat are named after him. His portrait appears on the 10,000 Chilean peso bank note. Also, in 1984 Arturo Prat University was founded, with its main campus in Iquique where his heroic deed took place.
Early life
Arturo Prat, the oldest of five brothers, (Ricardo, Rodolfo, Atala Rosa and Escilda Aurelia) son of Agustín Prat del Barril and Rosario Chacón Barrios, was born at the San Agustín de Puñual Hacienda in south-central Chile on April 3, 1848. The name Prat is of Catalan origin (not to be confused with the English 'Pratt'). He entered the Naval Academy on August 28, 1858, at the age of 10 years thanks to one of the scholarships created by President Manuel Montt, another son of Catalan immigrants. There were two scholarships per province: one for Arauco went to Prat, and the other went to Luis Uribe. Both had the same benefactor, Don Jacinto Chacón (uncle of Arturo and stepfather of Uribe), resulting in the two youths considering each other as brothers.
At the time, the academy was directed by the Frenchman Juan Julio Feillet and was backed by another Frenchman, Anatolio Desmadryl. Young Arturo and his friend Luis were part of the so-called "class of the heroes" including Carlos Condell, Juan José Latorre, and Jorge Montt Álvarez.
In 1859, his second year as a cadet, he commenced a nautical apprenticeship – a requirement for second-year students. His first voyage of training was completed in the steamer Independencia, with sail and rigging maneuvers, followed later by practice in seamanship and artillery.
In January 1860, Prat boarded, for the first time, Esmeralda. His nautical apprenticeship continued: embarkation and disembarkation, combat simulation, etc. In July 1861, he left the Naval Academy as "primera antigüedad" (the most distinguished in the course). He obtained the grade of "midshipman without examination".
During this period, Prat distinguished himself in an incident involving Infernal, a French ship that was carrying explosive materials. On October 1, 1861, it caught on fire while in the Bay of Valparaíso. Esmeralda, which was nearby, sent boats to save the wreck, one of which was steered by Prat, who would struggle for two hours against the fire.
War with Spain
On July 21, 1864, Arturo Prat passed the theoretical and practical test needed to be promoted from "midshipman without exam" to "examined midshipman". That year saw the incidents that resulted in the war against Spain, inflamed by the Chilean attitude towards the occupation of the Peruvian Chincha Islands by a Spanish squadron. The resulting war would prove to be a baptism of fire for Prat and his classmates.
Commanding Esmeralda at the time was Juan Williams Rebolledo, who planned the recovery of the Chilean steamer and the capture of the Spanish schooner Covadonga. The naval battle of Papudo occurred on December 26 and rapidly went the way of the Chilean force which was superior in firepower and was able to defeat and capture the ship. The capture of Covadonga resulted in the promotion by one grade of all sailors participating in the battle, converting Prat into an ensign (equivalent to a second lieutenant in the army).
Wishing to offset their losses at Papudo, the Spanish fleet sought another confrontation with the allied navies (Peru and Ecuador added to Chile's side), leading to the inconclusive battle of Abtao at Chiloé on February 7, 1866. Artillery combat occurred only between Covadonga and the Spanish ships Villa de Madrid and Blanca, as the other allied ships were unused due to a lack of coal and the rocky estuary. Prat then served on Covadonga, the ship which resisted the Spanish bombardment. There were no losses on the allied side, while the Spanish suffered two deaths.