Agustín Arturo Prat Chacón (Latin American Spanish: [aɾˈtuɾo pɾat tʃaˈkon]; April 3, 1848 – May 21, 1879) was a Chilean Navy officer and lawyer.

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.

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.

Commanding Esmeralda at the time was Juan Williams Rebolledo, who planned the recovery of the Chilean steamer Matías Cousiño and the capture of the Spanish schooner Covadonga.

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 screw frigates Villa de Madrid and Reina Blanca, as the other allied ships were unused due to a lack of coal and the rocky estuary.

During the latter trip in 1868, he was responsible for transporting aid to those affected by that year's earthquake, and he later brought back the remains of Bernardo O'Higgins, at the orders of Manuel Blanco Encalada.

Prat worked feverishly with a rope tied from his waist to the mast to accomplish rescue maneuvers which stopped the vessel with its bow against the beach, and secure it there with rigging.

On 31 July 1876, at 11 a.m., the lieutenant commander passed through the corridors of Supreme Court of Justice in full dress uniform wearing his sword at his belt; he had come to take his examination before the highest judges, the final requirement to practise law.

Prat protested that he had an appointment for that day, that he had very little free time as a naval officer, and requested a meeting with Manuel Montt Torres, the Supreme Court president.

It was written within the framework of the promulgation of the new electoral law during Federico Errázuriz Zañartu's government, in which the Greater Taxpayer Institution and Parliament Member Cumulative Vote were established.

Prat ends saying: ...deep-down a good law, it needs serious and important reforms with respect to regulations if it is to achieve the lofty objective it is destined to: to be the effective guarantee that the voting result is the happy expression of the national will."

The text reveals Prat's political ideas, clearly reflecting the common liberalism of the times, and demonstrates a great naivety (not even with all of its indications could the law prevent the intervention of the executive power.)

The only love letter from Prat to his fiancée that has survived is dated shortly after: My Carmela, my life, my treasure, I have to tell you, that I adore you every day more fervently, I cannot do it now because I am afraid I could fall ill.

Tall, slender and beautiful, she met with a sturdy Arturo Prat, with large forehead due to his baldness, thick beard and steady step.

Prat treated his wife as an equal, as a partner (something really rare in that society), putting her in charge of the family budget; and he, on the other hand, helped with some house chores: "At every moment I seem to find you exhausted from rocking our daughter, without me being next to you and sharing, albeit a bit, your labors...".

The fifth of April she was baptised in the Church of the Holy Spirit, the godparents being Conchita with José Jesús...It seems to me that she was to be very vivacious, smiling, playful... Last night I dreamt about her and she seemed to know me and with her little face a bit sad, she extended her little arms to hug me...But like Prat's older brothers who died very young, the girl inherited a very frail and sickly build.

At dusk, a devastating letter arrived from his wife: "My beloved Arturo, our dear little angel is still not well; I feel my heart fainting from pain and you are not here to hold me...

Being both of them aboard the armored Blanco Encalada, he was assigned to notify Iquique's authorities that they have been blocked by the Chilean army, which he did without letting the hostile position of the people daunt him.

But, owing to thick marine fog, they were not able to identify the newly arrived ships, but after a few moments they thought it was the Peruvian squadron coming back.

In that same moment, the Peruvian admiral Miguel Grau Seminario addressed his crew: "Crewmembers and Sailors of the Huáscar, Iquique is at sight, there are our afflicted fellow countrymen from Tarapacá, and also the enemy, still unpunished.

Remember how our forces distinguished in Junin, the 2nd of May, Abtao, Ayacucho and other battlefields, to win us our glorious and dignified independence, and our consecrated and brilliant laurels of freedom.

Carlos Condell de la Haza warned Prat, and he, seeing the difference between their forces and the enemy's, pronounced his famous impassioned speech in front of his brothers in arms: Lads, the battle will be unfair, but, cheer and have courage.

When the action began, Prat ordered Condell to follow his course and Covadonga met with Esmeralda and La Mar in the middle of the bay.

On the other hand, the monitor Huáscar weighed 1,130 tons and had armour plating 4½-inches thick, with two 300-pound cannon in a revolving turret and 11 knots maximum speed.

Prat quickly positioned the ship in front of the coast, 200 meters from it, forcing Huáscar to shoot with a parabolic trajectory to avoid hitting the Peruvian village, whose people gathered in crowds to watch the battle.

General Buendía, commander of the Peruvian garrison of Iquique, had artillery cannons placed on the beach and sent an emissary in a fast rowing boat with a warning to Huáscar that Esmeralda was loaded with torpedoes.

Grau stopped 600 m (660 yd) from her and began shooting with the 300-pound cannons, not hitting her for an hour and a half, owing to the Peruvian sailors' inexperience in the handling of the monitor's Coles turret.

Carmela Carvajal received the items, together with an attached letter from the Peruvian admiral, affirming his rival's personal qualities, his gentility and his high moral values.