Arturo Prat - Early Life

Early Life

Prat, the fourth (and only surviving) son of Agustín Prat del Barril and Rosario Chacón Barrios, was born at the San Agustín de Puñual Hacienda in south-central Chile on April 3, 1848. The name Prat is of Catalan origin (not to be confused with the English 'Pratt'). He entered the Naval Academy on August 28, 1858 at the age of 10 years thanks to one of the scholarships created by President Manuel Montt Torres. There were two scholarships per province: one for Arauco went to Prat, and the other went to Luis Uribe. Both had the same benefactor, Don Jacinto Chacón (uncle of Arturo and stepfather of Uribe), resulting in the two youths considering each other as brothers.

At the time, the academy was directed by Frenchman Juan Julio Feillet and was backed by another Frenchman, Don Anatolio Desmadryl. Young Arturo and his friend Luis were part of the so-called "class of the heroes" including, among others, Carlos Condell de la Haza, Juan José Latorre and Jorge Montt Álvarez.

During his first year, Prat was often distracted and struggled in his studies, especially mathematics. Nevertheless, just as he had in his previous school, he overcame these difficulties and went on to win a silver medal for his accomplishments.

In 1859, his second year as a cadet, he commenced a nautical apprenticeship – a requirement for second-year students. His first voyage of training was completed in the steamer Independencia, with sail and rigging maneuvers, followed later by practice in seamanship and artillery.

In January 1860, Arturo Prat boarded, for the first time, the "Esmeralda", the ship which would be the scene of his glory. His nautical apprenticeship continued: embarkation and disembarkation, combat simulation, etc. In July 1861, he left the Naval Academy as "primera antigüedad" (the most distinguished in the course). He obtained the grade of "midshipman without examination".

During this period, Prat distinguished himself in an incident involving the Infernal, a French ship that was carrying explosive materials. On October 1, 1861, it (fittingly) caught on fire while in the Bay of Valparaíso. The Esmeralda, which was nearby, sent boats to save the wreck, one of which was steered by Arturo Prat, who would struggle for two hours against the fire.