The Esmeralda was a wooden hulled steam corvette launched in 1855. She was sunk by the Peruvian Navy ironclad Huáscar on 21st May 1879 during the Battle of Iquique (teh first major naval battle of the War of the Pacific) and her captain Arturo Prat killed. A full sized replica of the ship as she was at the time of the battle was opened as a museum on 20th May 2011 as part of Chile's bicentenary celebrations.