Chincha Islands War

The Chincha Islands War, also known as the Spanish-South American War, was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia from 1865 to 1879. It began when Spain seized the guano-rich Chincha Islands, one of several attempts under Isabella II to reassert influence over its former South American colonies. Spain occupied the islands in April 1864 with 400 marines after the dispute over the Talambo incident and a Spanish commissary sent to Peru, and blockaded principal Peruvian ports. The islands produced almost 60 percent of the Peruvian government's annual revenue. The war saw the use of ironclads, including the armoured frigate Numancia, the first ironclad to circumnavigate the world.