 <unk> were widely used in South America . Both sides used ironclads in the <unk> Islands War between Spain and the combined forces of Peru and Chile in the early 1860s . The powerful Spanish <unk> participated in the Battle of <unk> but was unable to inflict significant damage to the <unk> defences . Besides , Peru was able to deploy two locally built ironclads based on American Civil War designs , the <unk> ( a wooden ship converted into a casemate ironclad ) and the Victoria ( a small monitor armed with a single 68 @-@ <unk> gun ) , as well as two British @-@ built ironclads : <unk> , a centre @-@ battery ship , and the turret ship <unk> . <unk> was the first ironclad to <unk> the world , arriving in <unk> on 20 September 1867 , and earning the motto : " <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> " [ " First ironclad ship to sail around the world " ] ) . In the War of the Pacific in 1879 , both Peru and Chile had ironclad warships , including some of those used a few years previously against Spain . While the <unk> ran aground early on , the Peruvian ironclad ' <unk> made a great impact against Chilean shipping , delaying Chilean ground invasion by six months . She was eventually caught by two more modern Chilean centre @-@ battery ironclads , the <unk> <unk> and the <unk> <unk> at the Battle of <unk> Point . 
