She is named after the Javary River in the Loreto Region of Peru, bordering the Amazonas State (Brazil), and was the first steamship to cross the highest navigable waters in the world.

[1] Even though peace had already been signed with the Treaty of Ancón between Peru and Chile to end the War of the Pacific on October 20, 1883, Rear Admiral Lizardo Montero and General César Canevaro resisted in Arequipa.

Upon reaching Puno, on the shore of Titicaca, they boarded with their men the steam gunboats Yavarí and Yapurá, to march towards the lake port of Chililaya, in Bolivia, where General Narciso Campero was waiting for him with two Bolivian battalions to resume hostilities against Chile.

However, a Chilean division arrived in Puno on November 4, 1883 and its local authorities immediately handed over the place, declaring themselves in favor of peace and the government of Miguel Iglesias.

[1] In 2015, with restoration almost complete, a group of young East Enders sponsored by the West Ham United Foundation trekked over the Andes from Tacna to Puno following the original route of the Yavari.