Arturo Prat

Agustín Arturo Prat Chacón was born on April 3, 1848, at Hacienda San Agustín de Puñual near Ninhue. Graduating from the Naval Academy in Valparaíso, Prat was a brilliant naval officer who also qualified as a lawyer, writing treatises on legal reform and teaching night school for poor sailors.

On May 21, 1879, during the War of the Pacific, Prat's antiquated wooden corvette Esmeralda was blockaded off Iquique by Peru's powerful ironclad Huáscar under Miguel Grau. When the Huáscar rammed his ship, Prat unsheathed his sword and shouted his immortal cry: 'The contest is unequal, but our flag has never been lowered before the enemy, and I hope this will not be the occasion to do so!' Leaping aboard the enemy ironclad with two sailors, Prat fell heroically on its deck. May 21 is celebrated nationwide as Navy Day (Día de las Glorias Navales).