Portuguese ironclad Vasco da Gama armored belt that was thick on either end and thick amidships. The main battery guns were protected by thick barbettes. "Vasco da Gama" was laid down at the Thames Iron Works shipyard in London, Britain in 1875, and was launched on 1 December 1876. The ship was completed in 1878. She served as part of the coastal defense force that protected Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, and the mouth of the river Tagus. On 26 June 1897, "Vasco da Gama" participated in the Fleet Review at Spithead celebrating Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. At the time, the ship was commanded by Captain
Vasco da Gama Masekela recorded an anti-colonialist song entitled "Colonial Man", which contains the lyrics "Vasco da Gama was no friend of mine", and another song entitled "Vasco da Gama (The Sailor Man)". Both songs were included in his 1976 album "Colonial Man". Vasco da Gama appears as an antagonist in the Indian film "Urumi". The film, directed by Santosh Sivan, depicts a failed assassination attempt on da Gama by an Indian. In March 2016, archaeologists working off the coast of Oman identified a shipwreck believed to be that of the "Esmeralda" from da Gama's 1502–1503 fleet. The wreck was initially discovered in