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
Portuguese ironclad Vasco da Gama Portuguese ironclad Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama was an ironclad which entered service with the Portuguese Navy in 1876, serving until 1935. She was built by the Thames Iron Works in London, launched in 1876, and completed in 1878. She served as the flagship of the Portuguese fleet for the majority of her long and peaceful career. She was rebuilt and heavily modernized between 1901 and 1903. Long-since obsolete by the 1930s, "Vasco da Gama" was finally sold for scrapping in 1935. "Vasco da Gama" was long between perpendiculars, and she had a beam of , though at the