When the range dropped to 2,000 yards (1,830 m), the commanding officer of Cristóbal Colón, Captain Emilio Díaz-Moreu y Quintana, decided that after a 50-mile run, the chase was over; in order to save the lives of her crew, he beached her at the mouth of the Tarquino River, 75 miles west of Santiago, at 1315 hours.