NRP Afonso de Albuquerque The NRP " Afonso de Albuquerque " was a warship of the Portuguese Navy , named after the 16th - century Portuguese navigator Afonso de Albuquerque . She was destroyed in combat on 18 December 1961 , defending Goa against the Indian Armed Forces invasion . The ship was the first of the " Afonso de Albuquerque " class , which also included the NRP " Bartolomeu Dias " . These ships were classified , by the Portuguese Navy , as " avisos coloniais de 1ª classe " ( 1st class colonial aviso or sloop ) and were designed to maintain a Portuguese naval presence in the Overseas territories of Portugal . They had limited capacity to combat other surface vessels , as they were intended , mainly , to support amphibious operations and troops on land . After the Second World War , the " Afonso de Albuquerque " class ships were reclassified as frigate s . In her career " Afonso de Albuquerque " served mainly in the $ 3 and the Pacific oceans , protecting the Portuguese territories of Mozambique , India , Macau and Timor . History . RMS " Nova Scotia " . On 28 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 the water had either drowned or been eaten by sharks . Five survivors fired a distress flare and were rescued by the ship . The next day " Afonso de Albuquerque " found herself surrounded by hundreds of floating corpses . In all the ship rescued 130 Italian internees , 42 guards , 17 crew members , three military and naval personnel , one DEMS gunner and one passenger . 858 people were lost : 650 Italian internees , 96 crew members , 88 South African guards , 10 DEMS gunners , eight military and naval personnel , five passengers , and " Nova Scotia " s master . Timor . In December 1941 , Portuguese Timor was occupied by Australian and Dutch forces , allegedly to defend the territory against a possible Japanese invasion . However , in February 1942 , using as a pretext the Australian and Dutch occupation , the Japanese invade Timor , occupying it until the end of the Second World War . At the end of the War , NRP " Afonso de Albuquerque " is integrated in the Portuguese naval and military expedition sent to Timor to perform the re - occupation and reconstruction of the territory . The " Afonso de Albuquerque " arrives at Timor on the 29 September 1945 , escorting the transport ship " Angola " , which carries the first Portuguese expeditionary troops . Goa . Late in 1961 , unable to convince Portugal to relinquish its colonies in the Indian subcontinent , India launched Operation Vijay to seize Goa , Daman and Diu by force . At the time , " Afonso de Albuquerque " was based in Goa as the leading naval unit of the Portuguese India Naval Command , with Captain Cunha Aragão as her commander . Early on the morning of 18 December 1961 " Afonso de Albuquerque " received information that the Indian Armed Forces had launched Operation Vijay . Her crew went to battle stations . As the land communication infrastructure was bombed and destroyed by the Indian Air Force , " Afonso de Albuquerque " received the responsibility to maintain radio communications between Goa and Lisbon . At 0900 , " Afonso de Albuquerque " sighted three Indian Navy ships , led by the Leopard - class frigate , just outside the Mormugao port . The two frigates and a minesweeper were an advance group of a task force which included the aircraft carrier and about ten cruiser s , destroyer s , frigate s and minesweepers . At 1200 , as the Portuguese commanders refused to surrender , the INS " Betwa " and her sister ship forced the entrance into the port and opened fire on " Afonso de Albuquerque " , which moved towards the enemy ships and returned fire . At the same time , the final radio message was sent to Lisbon : " We are being attacked . We are responding . " " Afonso de Albuquerque " was hit by enemy fire . At 1220 , when she tried to manoeuvre to a position in which she could use all her guns , her command bridge was hit , killing her radio officer and seriously wounding Captain Aragão . Aragão ordered First Officer Sarmento Gouveia , to assume command with instructions not to surrender . Under heavy fire directed at the ship , some of the crew evacuated the wounded commander to shore and transferred him by car to medical facilities at Panjim . At 1235 , under massive fire and with her boilers and engines already destroyed , the frigate ' s crew ran her aground onto the beach to serve as a shore battery . The crew continued to resist and fight until about the 1410 . The crew was captured by Indian forces on the next day at 2030 . It is estimated that during her last combat " Afonso de Albuquerque " fired almost 400 shells . Five of her crew were killed and 13 , as well as some officers , were wounded . The advantage of the Indian Navy was significant , as their ships were more modern and armed with quick - firing guns . " Afonso de Albuquerque " lay grounded at the beach near Dona Paula until 1962 when she was refloated and towed to Bombay . Parts of the ship are on display at a museum in Mumbai . The remainder was sold as scrap .