Hilario Rodrguez Malpica

Personal

Vocation

Mexican marine and military figure, a naval hero who participated in the Mexican Revolution, reaching the rank of Frigate Captain. From 1904 to 1909 he attended the Naval Military School in Veracruz. In November 1911 he was promoted to Second Lieutenant, assigned to the ship Tampico; in 1913 he was promoted to Lieutenant. In 1914 his ship was defending the port of Guaymas, Sonora, against the constitutionalist forces, but Rodríguez Malpica rebelled and joined the forces of Álvaro Obregón, who promoted him to Captain of the frigate, while remaining as Captain of the Tampico. Victoriano Huerta sent ships to fight him. They met for the first time, on 14 April 1914, in the Battle of Topolobampo, with the Tampico vessel becoming victorious, given the intervention of Captain Gustavo Salinas and his Sonora biplane. However, months later, on 16 June of the same year, they had a second naval confrontation with the Guerrero. Before the imminent defeat he sank his ship and committed suicide by placing his gun in his mouth that same day in 1914. Link to Wikipedia biography (Spanish)