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
Instituto Vasco da Gama Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada). Instituto Vasco da Gama The Instituto Vasco da Gama (Institute Vasco da Gama) Goa, today known as the Institute Menezes Braganza, was founded in 1871 on the initiative of Tomás António Ribeiro Ferreira, better known by Tomás Ribeiro, with the aim of promoting and supporting science and Lusophone literature in Goa. The Instituto Vasco da Gama promoted the golden age of Indo-Portuguese literature, and journalistic interventions besides texts in historiography and poetry. The institution received a building from the Portuguese authorities for the setting-up of its headquarters and the necessary financial support for the publication