Chilean cruiser Presidente Pinto (1890)

Presidente Pinto was built, like her sister ship, the protected cruiser Presidente Errázuriz, in France supervised by Juan José Latorre. They were ordered in 1887 by President José Manuel Balmaceda before the beginning of the 1891 Chilean Civil War.

During the war lay in French dockyards (incomplete) the most powerful vessels of the navy, the Pre-dreadnought battleship Prat (1890), and the two fast cruisers Pinto and Errázuriz. If these were secured by the Balmacedists the naval supremacy of the congress would be seriously challenged. The congressional forces formally requested that the ships be detained.

Neither of the three ships were involved in the Civil War.

The Pinto was launched and sailed to Chile on 5 August 1891, before having been completed. The boxes with her artillery were taken from an English merchant in the North Sea.

Her voyage to Chile saw some trouble: return to Le Havre in order to pick up the complete unprepared crew and insubordination of the crew. She arrived to Valparaíso in September 1892, too late for her to participate in the Civil War.

The engines had to be repaired because of the improper conditioning during the voyage to Chile.

In 1902, during the Thousand Days' War, the Columbian Government tried unsuccessful to purchase the Pinto.