THE BICENTENNIAL OF A RISING ARMADA

Abstract

The present work highlights the importance of a Navy, although improvised, in the libertarian process of Guayaquil, and its existence from October 9, 1820. Throughout the story the influence of Spaniards settled in Guayaquil who supported for the Political change from monarchy to an independent republic, such was the case of Manuel Antonio de Luzarraga, a Spanish sailor, dedicated to the cocoa export business, who controls building an important trading fleet. Also other Spanish sailors who change their position from royalists to patriots.

The work of the schooner Alcance stands out, as the main communication instrument for supplies, troops and correspondence at the time of the libertarian transformation, on its tours of the Pacific coast centered in Guayaquil, with its connections El Callao to the South and Panama to the North. In addition, it was prepared for war, in the libertarian cause. This schooner was purchased by the Guayaquil Governing Board and armed with cannons, making it the first Ecuadorian Navy ship, the one that formed a small naval force with the gunboat boats captured from the Spanish.

The work highlights the birth of the navy, from the War Junta established on October 9, 1820, a circumstance in which the chiefs and officers are appointed to defend the port, its autonomy and the freedom of America.