The Historic Ships at Vapor-Cué
The inscription at the flag says:
“This flag was the last one to wave on the Yhaguy River, on the boat Pirabebe. One of the sailors was Hermenegildo Almirón, who gave this to Mr. José Asunción Rolón.
August 18, 1869″
I’m back at the helm after a quick vacation trip. I visited the historic site of Vapor-Cué (“Old Steamboats’ Place), a site near the town of Caraguatay, where the last seven units of the Paraguayan Navy (including a small warship) were ran aground by Paraguayan sailors so they couldn’t fall into the hands of the Brazilian forces in 1869, during the final skirmishes of the Triple Alliance War that Paraguay fought to the bitter end against the combined armies of Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina (1864-1870).
I’ll try to post some photos. Click on them to see a larger version.
Warship ARP Anhambay, captured from Brazil, rebuilt.
ARP Pirabebe, rebuilt. Use the small gate at the fence for scaling.
The Memorial at Vapor-Cué
The Manduvirá River (rather a tiny brook) from the ARP Anhambay. I took the pic from the centerline, looking at the port side.
ARP Añambay's fore. This was a huge ship!
The historic museum at Vapor-Cué. It is very small, but adequate. My car can be seen at the right.
Boilers and other remains of the ships at Vapor-Cué. At the right there is a memorial with inscriptions.
A view of the gardens at the hotel near Vapor-Cué, looking toward the swimming pool. The price, roughly USD $15 for a double room (but no meals at all, not even breakfast) was right.
After spending three days at Vapor-Cué, we went to the town of Piribebuy for some additional rest. All in all, we are thankful for this trip.
