Chilean torpedo boat Guacolda

The Guacolda was a torpedo boat bought by Peru at the beginning of the War of the Pacific, but captured by the Chilean Navy in the Ecuadorian port of Ballenita before being commissioned.

[citation needed] Chilean agents in the US had reported the purchases and shipments as being in violation of the neutrality laws of the US and of any port used in transit for the materials procured in the United States.

Panama still officially belonged to Colombia, but in practice it had its own government, whose Secretary of State, es:José María Alemán, agreed that onward shipment would not be allowed, as had been established in the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between the Republic of New Granada and Chile of February 16, 1844.

[citation needed] Meanwhile the Chilean government, kept up to date in developments by its agents, had sent the Amazonas north to prevent the Alay from joining up with the rest of the Peruvian navy.

[6] It was placed under the command of First Lieutenant Luis A. Goñi and first saw service in the flotilla of the Blockade of Callao, which began with an attempt to torpedo the Peruvian corvette Unión on April 10, 1880.