Dom Fernando II e Glória
Encyclopedia
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
of the Portuguese Navy
Portuguese Navy
The Portuguese Navy is the naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in cooperation and integrated with the other branches of the Portuguese military, is charged with the military defence of Portugal....
. She was launched
Launched
Launched is the second album from German hardcore punk band, Beatsteaks. It was released in March, 2000 on Epitaph Records and follows the band's debut release 48/49 in 1997 on XNO Records. The album contains an interesting half acoustic cover version of a song by heavy metal band, Manowar, "Kings...
in 1843 and made her maiden voyage
Maiden voyage
The maiden voyage of a ship, aircraft or other craft is the first journey made by the craft after shakedown. A number of traditions and superstitions are associated with it....
in 1845. Built at the shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
of Daman
Daman District, India
Daman district is one of the two districts of the union territory of Daman and Diu on the western coast of India, surrounded by Valsad District of Gujarat state on the north, east and south and the Arabian Sea to the west. The district has an area of , and a population of 113,949 , which increased...
in the Portuguese India
Portuguese India
The Portuguese Viceroyalty of India , later the Portuguese State of India , was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of a sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de...
, it was Portugal's last sailing warship to be built and also the last ship that undertook the Carreira da Índia
Portuguese India Armadas
The Portuguese India armadas were the fleets of ships, organized by the Portuguese crown and dispatched on an annual basis from Portugal to India, principally Goa...
(India Run), a regular military line that connected Portugal to its colonies in India since the beginning of the 16th century.
The ship remained in active service until 1878, when she made her last sea voyage, having travelled more than one hundred thousand miles, the equivalent of five circumnavigation
Circumnavigation
Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
s of the world.
After long service it was almost destroyed by a fire in 1963 with the burned wooden-hull
Hull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
remaining beached at the mud-flats of the river Tagus
Tagus
The Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. It is long, in Spain, along the border between Portugal and Spain and in Portugal, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon. It drains an area of . The Tagus is highly utilized for most of its course...
for the next 29 years. Finally in 1990 the Portuguese Navy decided to restore her to her appearance in the 1850s. Since the World Exhibition of 1998
Expo '98
Expo '98 was an official specialised World's Fair held in Lisbon, Portugal from Friday, May 22 to Wednesday, September 30, 1998. The theme of the fair was "The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future," chosen in part to commemorate 500 years of Portuguese discoveries...
the ship lies in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
as a museum ship
Museum ship
A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...
on the dependency of the Navy Museum and classified as an Auxiliary Navy Unit (UAM 203).
Construction
In 1821, the IntendantIntendant
The title of intendant has been used in several countries through history. Traditionally, it refers to the holder of a public administrative office...
of the Royal Navy of Goa, Cândido José Mourão Garcez Palha, proposed to the Portuguese government the construction of a new frigate in the Portuguese colony of Daman, who possessed to the east a large forest of teak wood in Nagar-Aveli, considered to be an excellent wood for ship building. The authorization for the construction was given in 1824, by the Portuguese king João VI. The civil war period
Liberal Wars
The Liberal Wars, also known as the Portuguese Civil War, the War of the Two Brothers, or Miguelite War, was a war between progressive constitutionalists and authoritarian absolutists in Portugal over royal succession that lasted from 1828 to 1834...
and the political and economical problems in Portugal, delayed the construction for several times throughout the years. She was built in the Shipyards of the Royal Navy Arsenal under the supervision of the naval builder engineer Gil José da Conceição, being involved in its construction both Portuguese and Indian workers. She was finally launched in 1843, and towed to Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
for fitting out as a full-rigged ship.
She was named as a tribute to the king consort of Portugal Ferdinand II, husband of the Portuguese Queen Maria II, and to Our Lady
Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)
Roman Catholic veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary is based on Holy Scripture: In the fullness of time, God sent his son, born of a virgin. The mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God through Mary thus signifies her honour as Mother of God...
of Glory, a figure of special devotion among the catholic population of Goa.
The frigate was noted for her spacious accommodations, a critical factor on voyages that could take three months or even more without an intermediate port of call.
Service
The maiden voyageMaiden voyage
The maiden voyage of a ship, aircraft or other craft is the first journey made by the craft after shakedown. A number of traditions and superstitions are associated with it....
took place between 2 February and 4 July 1845 under the command of Captain Torcato José Marques, with a crew of 145 men, connecting Goa to Lisbon. Since then it was used on several types of missions over the years:
- Transporting military units, settlers, colonial administrators throughout the Empire, and even degredadosDegredadoA degredado is the traditionalPortuguese term for a convict exile, esp. in 15th-18th C.The term degredado is a traditional Portuguese legal term used to refer to anyone who was subject to legal restrictions on their movement, speech or labor. Exile is only one of several forms of legal impairment...
to the Portuguese colonies in Africa and India. - Transporting in 1852 to the Portuguese island of MadeiraMadeiraMadeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
, the Empress consort of BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
Amélie of Leuchtenberg, and her daughter Princess Maria Amélia of Brazil who was sick with tuberculosisTuberculosisTuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and was looking for a good climate to recover from her disease, dying however five months after the arrival. - Transporting to Angola in 1854 the Portuguese explorer António da Silva PortoAntonío da Silva PortoAntónio Francisco Ferreira da Silva Porto was a Portuguese trader and explorer in Angola, in the Portuguese West Africa.-Biography:...
and the thirteen members of is expedition after their completion of the crossing of Africa, from the coast of Angola to the coast of MozambiquePortuguese East AfricaMozambique or Portuguese East Africa was the common name by which the Portuguese Empire's territorial expansion in East Africa was known across different periods of time...
. - Participation in May 1855 as flagshipFlagshipA flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of a Portuguese naval force in AmbrizAmbrizAmbriz is a city, commune and municipality in Bengo Province, Angola.The population of Ambriz is majority Bakongo, with some Portuguese descedents.Also, the population also includes Ovimbundu and Kimbundu....
, AngolaAngola (Portugal)Angola is the common name by which the Portuguese colony in southwestern Africa was known across different periods of time...
, against a local rebellion. - Participation in 1860 in the colonization of Huíla, Angola, transporting sheep's and horses from South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
to Angola.
In 1865, she replaced the sailing ship Vasco da Gama as the Artillery School of the Portuguese Navy, conducting training missions up until 1878, when it completed her last training mission on sea in a voyage to the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
islands. In this last voyage she rescued the crew of the American barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
Lawrence Boston, which had caught fire off the Azores archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
. After this, she remained permanently moored in Lisbon as the Naval Artillery School with significant modifications being made on her in 1889,with the replacement of her elegant masts, and the construction of two redoubt
Redoubt
A redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main defensive line and can be a permanent structure or a...
s on both her sides for the placement of modern cannons, to better serve her role of artillery instruction unit.
In 1938 served as the flagship of the naval forces of Continental Portugal, based in the river Tagus.
Fire and damage
In 1940, after being considered unfit for navy service, it became the headquarters of the Fragata Dom Fernando Welfare Institution (Obra Social da Fragata Dom Fernando) destined to give general education as well as teaching seamanship to underprivileged youth, up until 3 April 1963. On this day, when reparations were being made on her, a huge fire erupted, partially destroying the ship's hull and structure. After the fire was extinguished, the frigate was towed to an area where the navigation on the river TagusTagus
The Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. It is long, in Spain, along the border between Portugal and Spain and in Portugal, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon. It drains an area of . The Tagus is highly utilized for most of its course...
wouldn't be disturbed, remaining abandoned and half buried in the mud-flats for the next 29 years.
Reconstruction
In October 1990 the Portuguese Navy and the National Commission for the Commemoration of the Portuguese Discoveries initiated efforts in order of restoring the frigate as she was in the 1850s. In 22 January 1992, the wooden hull was removed from the mud-flats and set floating again, placed in a floating dock and transported to the dry dock of the Arsenal of Alfeite first, and in 1993 to the Ria-Marine shipyards in Aveiro, where it remained for the next 5 years being restored, receiving widespread public and private support. On 27 April 1998, the Dom Fernando II e Glória was reinstated in the Portuguese Navy as an Auxiliary Navy Unit (UAM 203).On 12 August 1998, it is delivered to the Navy Museum after being considered by Decree an Historical Navy Ship on 18 July 1998. During its stay on the Expo '98
Expo '98
Expo '98 was an official specialised World's Fair held in Lisbon, Portugal from Friday, May 22 to Wednesday, September 30, 1998. The theme of the fair was "The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future," chosen in part to commemorate 500 years of Portuguese discoveries...
that marked the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the sea route to India by Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India...
, she was a major attraction being visited by almost 900.000 people.
In September 1998, the World Ship Trust awards the Dom Fernando II e Glória with the International Maritime Heritage Award, who considers her restoration as one of the most astonishing historic ship preservation achievements of our time.
The International Register of Historic Ships considers the Dom Fernando II e Glória as the fourth oldest armed frigate, and the eight oldest sailing warship in the world.
External links
- (Portuguese) Dom Fernando II e Glória - Official website
- (English) World Ship Trust - Official website