José Anacleto Goñi

José Anacleto Goñi Prieto (23 June 1817 – 1886) was a Chilean naval officer who served three terms as Commander General of the Chilean Navy, in 1867–1868, 1869–1870 and 1879–1880.

During a naval career spanning more than five decades, he participated in the War of the Confederation, held senior naval and maritime administrative positions, supervised the construction of Chilean warships in the United Kingdom, and served as Commander General of the Navy during the opening phase of the War of the Pacific. He attained the rank of vice admiral.

Biography

Goñi was born on 23 June 1817. His father, also named José Anacleto Goñi, was the Spanish royalist captain of the brig Águila, which was captured by Chilean forces shortly after their victory at the Battle of Chacabuco in February 1817. The younger Goñi entered the Military School in 1832 and joined the Chilean Navy as a midshipman on 28 March 1837.

As a junior officer, Goñi participated in the War of the Confederation. Serving aboard the corvette Valparaíso, he took part in the naval action at Islay in August 1838 and in the capture of the Peruvian corvette Socabaya at Callao. He was later taken prisoner by forces under Colonel Estanislao Correa and released following the defeat of Andrés de Santa Cruz.

Goñi was promoted to corvette captain in 1846, frigate captain in 1853 and captain in 1859. He served as Maritime Governor of Valparaíso between 1861 and 1867 and subsequently as Major General of the Department of the Navy. His career during this period also encompassed the Chilean Revolution of 1859 and the war against Spain.

In 1870, Goñi commanded the corvette O'Higgins during the first formally organized training voyage for Chilean naval cadets to Easter Island. During the expedition, naval personnel carried out hydrographic and topographical surveys of the island. Among the officers and cadets involved were Francisco Molinas, Luis Uribe Orrego and Juan Ramón Serrano.

In 1873, by then a rear admiral, Goñi was sent to London to supervise the construction of new vessels for the Chilean Navy, including the ironclads Blanco Encalada and Almirante Cochrane and the gunboat Magallanes.

Goñi held the position of Commander General of the Navy on three occasions. His final term began in 1879, coinciding with the outbreak of the War of the Pacific, and lasted until 1880. He also served on the Navy's qualifying commission and was associated with the establishment of the Círculo Naval, later known as the Naval Club of Valparaíso.

Goñi was married to Matilde Simpson, with whom he established a family with a long tradition of service in the Chilean armed forces. He died in Valparaíso in 1886 after more than five decades of naval service.