W.R. Grace Continues Shipping Munitions

With the assumption of the Peruvian presidency by Nicolás de Piérola, W. R. Grace & Co. continued to act as a purchasing agent of munitions but W. R. Grace withdrew from active involvement. Charles Flint corresponded with John Ericsson regarding his torpedo designs.

In 1861 John Ericsson built the Monitor that fought the Confederate Merrimac during the Civil War. Ericcson worked previously with the Peruvians in May of 1862, when he was asked to build two boats similar to the Monitor. (Yábar, 2001, pg. 410) Ericsson also invented two other innovative weapons, one a torpedo cannon that could fire projectiles and also the Destroyer, a boat with a cannon mounted in its prow.

Flint and Ericsson tested dummy projectiles on the North River. Gullermo Bogardus, the agent for Peru, and Flint inspected the original Destroyer then in the port of New York and negotiated the purchase and a delivery date. It is possible that Peru succeeded in acquiring the torpedo cannon, but there is no indication that they were able to acquire the Destroyer. (Yábar, 2001, 411-413)

Realizing that the ports of Peru would be blockaded by Chile, the Grace firm shipped a cartridge factory to Peru which began turning out cartridges soon after its arrival.

Resources:
Yábar Acuña, Francisco. 2001. Las Fuerzas Sutiles y la defensa de costa durante la Guerra del Pacifico. Lima: Dirección de Intereses Marítimos. 650 pp.