Francisco Molinas

Francisco Javier Molinas Gacitúa (1848 – 20 July 1892) was a Chilean naval officer who served as Commander General of the Chilean Navy in 1892. A veteran of the War of the Pacific and the Chilean Civil War of 1891, he attained the rank of rear admiral shortly before his death.

Biography

Molinas was born in Valparaíso in 1848 and entered the Naval School on 15 April 1858. He belonged to the generation of cadets later known as the Curso de los Héroes ("Class of Heroes"), which included officers such as Arturo Prat, Carlos Condell, Juan José Latorre and Jorge Montt. He graduated as a midshipman in 1861 and subsequently served aboard vessels operating along the Chilean coast and around the Juan Fernández Islands.

In 1864, Molinas sailed aboard the British barque Calabar to Liverpool and joined the naval commission headed by Admiral Robert Winthrop Simpson, which supervised the construction of the Chilean corvettes O'Higgins and Chacabuco in the United Kingdom. He returned to Chile during the war against Spain and later participated in hydrographic work. In 1870, while serving as an instructor at the Naval School, he took part in a training voyage to Easter Island aboard the corvette O'Higgins. Molinas participated in surveying Hanga Roa and Anakena during the expedition.

During the War of the Pacific, Molinas served as an aide to Colonel Emilio Sotomayor Baeza during the Chilean occupation of Antofagasta in February 1879. He later commanded the armed transport Loa, which formed part of the Chilean fleet during the Battle of Angamos on 8 October 1879.

Returning to Valparaíso in 1881 with the rank of frigate captain, he served as Inspector General of Machinery and participated in commissions responsible for the preparation of the Navy's maritime code and the development of the Revista de Marina. In 1889, by then a captain, he was appointed director of the Central Office of Lighthouses and Port Captaincies.

During the Chilean Civil War of 1891, Molinas sided with the Congressional forces alongside Captain Jorge Montt. Following their victory, the governing junta appointed him Commander General of the Navy and president of the Naval Club. He was promoted to rear admiral in November 1891 and also served as president of the Revista de Marina between 1891 and 1892.

Ill health forced Molinas to leave his post in 1892. He was subsequently appointed an honorary member of the Navy's Assistance Board. He died on 20 July 1892 without descendants.