O'Higgins was a Chilean frigate famous for her actions under Captain Lord Cochrane.
The ship was launched in Russia in 1816, as the Speshni-class frigate Patrikii ("ÃÂðÃÂÃÂøúøù"). To save time and money, the Russians built her of pine and larch. In 1817 the Russians sold her to Spain, which renamed her MarÃÂa Isabel.
In 1818 MarÃÂa Isabel sailed under Captain Dionisio Capas with a convoy to the coast of Peru. There the First Chilean Navy Squadron, under the command of Manuel Blanco Encalada, captured her at Talcahuano.
The Chileans renamed the ship O'Higgins after Bernardo O'Higgins, the South American Independence leader and first Chilean head of state.
O'Higgins was Thomas Cochrane's flagship when he commanded the Chilean navy during the Freedom Expedition of Perú.
When San MartÃÂn was wrecked in the bay of Chorrilos, Peru, in July 1821, Cochrane shifted his flag from San MartÃÂn back to O'Higgins.
Cochrane also sailed O'Higgins to Acapulco.
On 8 June 1823, O'Higgins suffered severe damage when she collided with the Chilean ship in the Bay of ParaÃÂso during a gale.
During 1823, after a conservative coup on 28 January 1823 deposed O'Higgins, the new government under Ramón Freire renamed the frigate MarÃÂa Isabel again.
She was sold to Argentina on 1 April 1826 and refitted in ValparaÃÂso and renamed Buenos Aires, but she never reached Buenos Aires. She sank rounding Cape Horn.