Battle of Punta de Quilmes

The Battle of Punta de Quilmes, also known as the Battle of Banco das Palmas, was a minor naval battle fought in 27 February 1827 during the Cisplatine War. It was indecisive, with neither fleet managing to decisively engage the other, but the Brazilian schooner Dois de Dezembro was sunk after a long-range cannon shot hit its gunpowder storage, and the Argentine fleet managed to reach Buenos Aires, which was its goal.

After the decisive Argentine victory at the Battle of Juncal, William Brown, the commander of the Argentine fleet, left the harbour at Martín García Island, sailing towards Buenos Aires, which was still blockaded by a Brazilian naval division under Admiral Johan Carl Peter Prytz. The Argentine force was composed of a brig, four schooners, 9 gunboats and 13 prize ships.^[2]

Pritz's fleet was composed of the frigate Imperatriz, a corvette, four brigs and four schooners. It was anchored off Quilmes, blocking access to Buenos Aires from the south. Though the Imperial ships were stronger both in number and guns than the Argentine, the shallowness of the waters around Buenos Aires made it difficult for them to maneuver.^[1] When the Brazilian ships spotted Brown's force, and started sailing towards it, the Imperatriz soon got stuck on some shallow terrain.^[3] Though it managed to get unstuck in time to take part in the battle, this event delayed the Imperial fleet, making it so that the engagement only took place at a long range.^[1]

The schooner Dois de Dezembro, bearing two guns, under second lieutenant José Narciso de Brum's command, was hit by a 24-pounder cannonball fired by an Argentine gunboat in its powder storage (which had 30 barrels of gunpowder at the time). The resulting explosion was such that the ship was quickly sunk, and only 3 out of its 120 crewmen survived and were rescued.^[3][4]