Battle of the San Carlos Islands

Operation Valdivo
Part of the Creeperian Civil War
Clockwise from top-left: Ruins of the San Carlos Mission, Romerist artillery targeting Miguelist ships, Sinking of the battleship BNC Carlos Marx by the destroyer BIC Norental.
Date 17 – 29 April 1938 (1 week and 5 days) Location San Carlos Islands, Creeperopolis Result Imperial Council victory The San Carlos Islands remain under Imperial Council control for the remainder of the war National Council landing fleets destroyed
Belligerents
National Council	Imperial Council
Commanders and leaders
José Obregón Galván † Martín Mena Campos José Guerrero Yagüe   Alfonso Velázquez Cortéz Bernardo Zaldívar Hidalgo	José Salinas Tejón † Juan Huerta Casanova † Manuel Piñón Ureña Pedro Trejo Mendoza Xavier Justo Melléndez
Units involved
12th Flotilla 17th Infantry Division	19th Flotilla 12th Air Force Wing 20th Infantry Division
Strength
1 battleship 3 heavy cruisers 3 light cruisers 6 destroyers 6 submarines 5 transport ships 10,000 sailors 10,000 soldiers	4 heavy cruisers 4 light cruisers 8 destroyers 6 submarines 200 aircraft 5,900 sailors 400 airmen 10,000 soldiers
Casualties and losses
1 battleship sunk 1 heavy cruiser sunk 1 heavy cruiser damaged 2 light cruisers sunk 2 destroyers sunk 2 destroyers damaged 1 destroyer captured 5 submarines sunk 1 submarine captured 5 transport ships sunk 6,984 sailors killed 833 sailors captured 8,719 soldiers killed 891 soldiers captured	2 heavy cruisers sunk 2 heavy cruisers damaged 2 light cruisers sunk 1 light cruiser damaged 4 destroyers sunk 2 destroyers damaged 5 submarines sunk 1 submarine damaged 121 aircraft destroyed 42 aircraft damaged 2,763 sailors killed 211 airmen killed 31 airmen captured 783 soldiers killed
2,449 civilians killed

The Battle of the San Carlos Islands (Creeperian Spanish: Batalla de las'Islas San Carlos), also known as Operation Valdivo (Creeperian Spanish: Operación Valdivo), and sometimes called the Battle of the Two José's (Creeperian Spanish: Batalla de los'Dos José's) and the Battle of Easter Week (Creeperian Spanish: Batalla de Semana Pasqua), was a major naval military engagement of the Creeperian Civil War between the National Council for Peace and Order and the Catholic Imperial Restoration Council which occurred from 17 to 29 April 1938 in the San Carlos Islands, the only such military engagement in the department throughout the entire war due to its distance away from the Creeperian mainland. The battle was a part of a National Council operation to land soldiers on the San Carlos Islands and begin a conquest of the islands from Imperial Council control.

Battle began on 17 April 1938, Easter Sunday, when ships of the National Council opened fire on Imperial Council positions in Cámarillo and Santa Catalina on the islands of Colón, where the 10,000 National Council soldiers intended to make landfall. Through 20 April 1938, two of the transport ships were sunk by the Imperial Council, killing many of the soldiers on board, and by then, an effective stalemate ensued as the National Council was unable to make any landing while the Imperial Council was unable to force a National Council retreat. On 23 April 1938, a third transport ship was sunk by the Imperial Council, but the National Council refused to retreat. A second attempt at a landing occurred on 25 April 1938, however, both transport ships were sunk before they would deploy soldiers to land, and the Imperial Council began a counteroffensive to force a National Council retreat. On 29 April 1938, following the sinking of the National Council battleship BNC Carlos Marx, the remaining ships of the National Council retreated but continued to come under heavy Imperial Council fire, ending the one week five day-long battle in an Imperial Council victory.

The battle is considered to be the largest naval battle of the Creeperian Civil War, and, until the Battle of the Glaceis Ocean of 30 to 31 March 2020, the largest naval battle in Creeperian and world history. A total of forty-six ships were involved in the battle, and of them, twenty-nine were sunk, nine were damaged, and two were captured. The National Council had a strength of 20,000 men while the Imperial Council had a strength of 16,300 men. The Imperial Council also deployed 200 aircraft during the battle. The battle remains the deadliest in history, claiming the lives of 21,909 combined military personnel and civilians. Heavy damaged was caused across Colón in Cámarillo and Santa Catalina.

The battle led to the solidification of Imperial Council control over the San Carlos Islands for the remainder of the Creeperian Civil War and no serious attempt to take control of the San Carlos Islands by the National Council was attempted for the remainder of the war. The battle is commemorated ever 17 April with a military parade in Cámarillo in celebration of the Imperial Council victory over the National Council in the battle. The historic San Carlos Mission, destroyed during the battle by bombardment from National Council ships, serves partially as a memorial to the battle as it was never reconstructed following the war and remains in ruins. The battle is considered one of the most important battles of the civil, along with the Battle of Ciudad Los'Ángeles, the Battle of San Romero, the Siege of San Salvador, and the Battle of the Zapatista River. The battle, and then the later and disastrous 1943 Battle of Cabo de Palos, severely weakened the power of the National Council's navy.

Order of Battle

National Council

Admiral José Armando Obregón Galván.

Imperial Council

Admiral José Dámaso Salinas Tejón.

See also

• Operation Esclaveta – a canceled covert National Council operation to incite a rebellion in Esclaveta