Pedro Gárezon Thomas

Pedro Gárezon Thomas (born February 23, 1851 in Lima , † May 27, 1927 ibid) was a Peruvian naval officer and administrative officer. He became known as the last Peruvian commander of the Huáscar monitor in the saltpeter war .

Historically, Gárezon Thomas did not emerge through his later career as a naval and administrative officer, but solely because he took part in the naval battle of Angamos as a young officer (he was then a first lieutenant at sea ) at the age of 28 and in the course of the battle for some Hours became commander of the flagship of the Peruvian Navy when all the other officers of the Huáscar were killed or seriously wounded. Shortly afterwards, the ship was boarded and he and the rest of the crew were taken prisoner by the Chileans. In his role as accidental commandant, Gárezon Thomas signed the logbook and the reports of the fighting that he had to send to his government from captivity in order to justify the attempt made with his comrades under his direction to defeat the ship To sink the conquest quickly, it was unsuccessful and the ship fell into enemy hands.

After the end of the Saltpeter War, Pedro Gárezon Thomas returned to Peru and continued his naval career. He married Elvira Paz-Soldán y Rivero (* 1863) with whom he had a daughter named Elvira Gárezon y Paz-Soldán. In 1880 he received the post of first officer on the transport ship Oroya and then served in the same position on the Atahualpa monitor . In 1881 he was personal adjutant to the Peruvian President Manuel Francisco García-Calderón y Landa (served from March to September). He was then transferred to the Callao coastal batteries . In 1908/09 he became the regular commander of the Peruvian fleet for one year. In 1911 Gárezon was appointed prefect ( civil governor ) of Lima for one year ; Promoted to rear admiral in 1912 .

After his death in 1927, he was buried as a saltpeter war veteran in a niche in the Hero's Crypt ( Cripta de los Héroes ) in Lima.

Works

• Official report by Pedro Gárezon Thomas of the Battle of Angamos on September 4, 1890 on Wikisource (Spanish)