page_title: Portuguese Navy
section_title: Napoleonic Wars and the early 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: Portuguese Navy / History / Napoleonic Wars and the early 19th century
context_page_description: 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 defense of Portugal.
  On 12 December 2017, the Portuguese Navy commemorated the 700th anniversary of its official creation by King Denis of Portugal. Tracing its origins back to the 12th century, it is the oldest continuously serving navy in the world.
  The Navy played a key role at the beginning and during the great voyages of the Age of Discoveries in the 15th and 16th centuries. The resulting of this technical and scientific discoveries led Portugal to develop advanced ships, including the caravel, new and more sophisticated types of carracks for interoceanic travel and the oceanic galleon, and to find the sea route to the East and routes to South America and Northern North America.
  Bartolomeu Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa and Vasco da Gama reached India, linking Europe and Asia for the first time by ocean route, as well as the Atlantic and the Indian oceans.
context_section_description: In the late 18th century, under the command of the Marquis of Nisa, the Portuguese Navy took part in the Mediterranean Campaign of 1798 against the French Republic in Egypt and in the Siege of Malta.
  In November 1807, General Jean-Andoche Junot invaded Portugal in an attempt to expand Napoleon's continental empire.
  With insufficient forces to deter the invasion, in order not to be captured and keep the independence of the Kingdom, the Prince Regent John of Portugal activates an ancient strategic plan that the foresee the transference of the head of the Portuguese Crown to Brazil. The Prince Regent called upon his Navy to execute this mission and, on 29 November 1807, the Royal Family, the Government and 15,000 state and military officials and their families leave Lisbon and sail to Brazil, carried by a Portuguese fleet that included eight ships of the line, five frigates and five other smaller ships. The 84 gun ship Príncipe Real served as flagship, carrying on board the Prince Regent and his family. The fleet arrived at Bahia on 22 December, and, finally, at Rio de Janeiro on 8 March 1808. The new Portuguese capital is established in Rio. Carried in the fleet, the Royal Academy of Midshipmen also arrives and is installed in Rio, as well as a part of the Royal Brigade of the Navy.
  In retaliation for the French invasion of Portugal, the Portuguese forces in Brazil conquer the French Guiana in January 1809. The amphibious invasion is done by a Portuguese naval flotilla supported by a British frigate, a force of 550 marines of the Royal Brigade of the Navy and 700 Brazilian regulars.
  While participating in the Napoleonic Wars in the Western hemisphere, the Portuguese Navy was also engaged in operations in the waters of Southeast Asia. Between November 1809 and February 1810, the Portuguese naval forces based in Macau conduct a campaign against the Chinese pirates, defeating them in a series of naval actions in Bocca Tigris.
  Political instability dominated Portugal during the 19th century after the Napoleonic invasions. In 1820, after a Revolution in the city of Oporto, the Constitutional regime is established in Portugal. The Parliament in Lisbon requires the return of the King from Brazil to Europe. King John VI returns in 1821, leaving his heir, Prince Peter, as regent of Brazil.
  After a period of political dispute with the Parliament in Lisbon, Prince Peter finally breaks with it and declares the independence of Brazil in 1822, becoming its first Emperor, as Peter I. Peter I is supported by many of the Portuguese naval personnel stationed in Brazil, whose members became citizens of the new country. The new Brazilian Navy is constituted mainly with the Portuguese ships based in Brazil at that time and their respective crews. In the brief War of Independence of Brazil, some small naval engagements occur, between the Brazilian Navy and the Portuguese naval forces in Brazil that kept loyal to the Government of Lisbon.
  However, the engagements are limited by the fact that the Portuguese that constituted the majority of the crews of the Brazilian ships—although loyal to Peter I—refused to fight against other Portuguese. The conflict would end in 1824, with Portugal recognizing the independence of Brazil in 1825. In the same year, the Royal Academy of Midshipmen in Rio de Janeiro is divided in two, one for Brazil and the other for Portugal, with the students and faculty members that opted for Portuguese nationality returning to Lisbon.
caption: Prince Regent John and the Royal Court of Portugal prepare to embark in the Portuguese fleet seen on the Tagus, that would take them to Brazil
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