In 1864, the same year that the CSS Hunley attacked and sunk the USS Housatonic, a Peruvian citizen, Mr. Federico Blume (1831-1901), developed the design of the first submarine for the Peruvian Navy. Blume, a civilian engineer who participated in the construction of railroads in Peru, presented his idea after the Spanish Pacific squadron occupied the Chincha Islands (See chapter The War With Spain). His purpose was to create a device that could confront, with minimum risk, the powerful enemy fleet. The result was the “Toro Submarino” (Submarine Bull). It was a revolutionary design for the ships of those days. She could float and could dive by opening the seacock and filling the ballast tanks. It could also renew the air being submerged using the principle of the snorkel. The war with Spain however came to an end and the submarine was not built.
During the war with Chile, once again Blume decided to offer his services to the Navy, presenting an improved version of his 1864 submarine. The engineer started to work on his machine in June 1879, only two months after the declaration of the war, financing the project with his own resources. The work was carried out in secrecy during four months at a factory property of the northern railroad Piura-Paita. The submarine, a 48 feet long cylindrical ¼ inch thick iron boiler bound together by iron strips and rivets, could be operated manually by eight men, from a total crew of eleven, who, at the same, time could move the air fans and the water bomb. The ventilation tubes were made of brass and they could ascend and descend trough a special device. The ship also had gauges of internal pressure, depth and level of water in the tank of ballast.
On October 14th, 1879, Blume, together with his son and eight workers from the railroad, initiated in the seashores of the port of Paita the first tests on the submarine. The tests lasted almost 3 weeks, demonstrating that the submarine could reach a depth of 72 feet and a maximum speed of 4 knots. News about the amazing weapon reached Supreme Director Nicolas de Pierola, who became very enthusiast about the idea of using it against the Chileans, so preparations were made to show her capability to the authorities. The submarine was brought to Callao under the utmost secrecy hidden in the transport Limeña. In July 1880, under great expectation, the “Toro” made its first official submersion. Among the passengers was the Peruvian Minister of War. During those maneuvers, the submarine remained 30 minutes submerged without suffering any damage, which proved that it could be used as a reliable weapon. The Minister was very impressed. His report to the Government about the capabilities of the submarine was favorable and a decision was made to use it against Chilean warships (1).
The first task conferred upon the Toro was to advance at night towards one of the enemy battleships (Cochrane or Blanco Encalada), both anchoring at the shores of the San Lorenzo Island located few miles west of Callao, pulling two torpedoes. The submarine should deploy below one of the battleships and release the torpedoes, which, activated by a time device, would explode and sink the objective. However, when the Toro was preparing to attack, already under 36 feet of water, the Chileans, informed by their spies that the Peruvians had a “secret and powerful weapon”, moved their battleships to the South and the mission was aborted.
On January 16th, 1881, after the battle of Lima and at the brink of the occupation of the Peruvian capital, Blume´s submarine was sunk with the other ships of the Peruvian fleet to avoid capture by the enemy.
Peru was not only the first Latin American nation to develop a submarine. In 1911, it also bought the first submarines used in the region: The French-made Labeauf Class, “Ferre” and “Palacios” named after the heroes of the Huascar that died at the battle of Angamos.
. . . .
(1) This way the Peruvian Navy officially commissioned a submarine 20 years before the United States Navy commissioned its first unit, the USS Holland, or SS-1 on April 11, 1900. That submarine was equipped with an Otto-type gasoline engine for surface running and electric motors for submerged operations