5th Portuguese India Armada (Albuquerque, 1503) Cape Verde, the first squadron of Afonso de Albuquerque struck out into the south Atlantic, following the South Atlantic Gyre. Along the way, Albuquerque came across Ascension Island. Although the island had already been discovered back in 1501 by the Third Armada of João da Nova (and named "ilha da Conceição" then), Albuquerque renamed it "ilha da Ascensão" on account of it being Ascension Day (May 21), the name that has since stuck. Strong south-westerly winds pushed them towards the coast of Brazil, where Albuquerque made a brief stop to take on water (exactly where is uncertain), before making his
NRP Afonso de Albuquerque (1934) November 1942, "Afonso de Albuquerque" was in Lourenço Marques when the torpedoed and sank the British troop ship off the coast of Natal Province, South Africa. "Nova Scotia" had 1,052 people aboard, most of them Italian prisoners of war or civilian internees, but in accordance with the Laconia Order that Admiral Dönitz had issued two months previously, "U-177" left the scene without rescuing survivors. Instead the German "Befehlshaber der U-Boote" (BdU) requested help from the Portuguese authorities, who sent "Afonso de Albuquerque" to the scene. The ship reached the position the next day, by which time survivors who were in