Dom Fernando II e Glória Dom Fernando II e Glória is a wooden - hulled , 50 gun frigate of the Portuguese Navy . She was launched in 1843 and made her maiden voyage in 1845 . Built at the shipyard of Daman in the Portuguese India , it was Portugal ' s last sailing warship to be built and also the last ship that undertook the Carreira da Índia ( " India Run " ) , a regular military line that connected Portugal to its colonies in India since the beginning of the 16th century . The ship remained in active service until 1878 , when she made her last sea voyage , having travelled more than one hundred thousand miles , the equivalent of five circumnavigations of the world . After long service it was almost destroyed by a fire in 1963 with the burned wooden - hull remaining beached at the mud - flats of the river Tagus for the next 29 years . Finally in 1990 the Portuguese Navy decided to restore her to her appearance in the 1850s . During the World Exhibition of 1998 the ship remained in Lisbon as a museum ship on the dependency of the Navy Museum , being classified as an Auxiliary Navy Unit ( " UAM 203 " ) . Since 2008 , the ship lies on the southern margin of the Tagus river in Cacilhas , Almada . Construction . In 1821 , the Intendant of the Royal Navy of Goa , Cândido José Mourão Garcez Palha , proposed to the Portuguese government the construction of a new frigate in the Portuguese colony of Daman , who possessed to the east a large forest of teak wood in Nagar - Aveli , considered to be an excellent wood for ship building . The authorization for the construction was given in 1824 , by the Portuguese king João VI . The civil war period and the political and economical problems in Portugal , delayed the construction for several times throughout the years . She was built in the Shipyards of the Royal Navy Arsenal under the supervision of the naval builder engineer Gil José da Conceição , being involved in its construction both Portuguese and Indian workers . She was finally launched in 1843 , and towed to Goa for fitting out as a full - rigged ship . She was named as a tribute to the king consort of Portugal Ferdinand II , husband of the Portuguese Queen Maria II , and to Our Lady of Glory , a figure of special devotion among the catholic population of Goa . The frigate was noted for her spacious accommodations , a critical factor on voyages that could take three months or even more without an intermediate port of call . Service . The maiden voyage took place between 2 February and 4 July 1845 under the command of Captain Torcato José Marques , with a crew of 145 men , connecting Goa to Lisbon . Since then it was used on several types of missions over the years : In 1865 , she replaced the sailing ship " Vasco da Gama " as the Artillery School of the Portuguese Navy , conducting training missions up until 1878 , when it completed her last training mission on sea in a voyage to the Azores islands . In this last voyage she rescued the crew of the American barque " Lawrence Boston " , which had caught fire off the Azores archipelago . After this , she remained permanently moored in Lisbon as the Naval Artillery School with significant modifications being made on her in 1889 , with the replacement of her elegant masts , and the construction of two redoubt s on both her sides for the placement of modern cannons , to better serve her role of artillery instruction unit . In 1938 served as the flagship of the naval forces of Continental Portugal , based in the river Tagus . Fire and damage . In 1940 , after being considered unfit for navy service , it became the headquarters of the " Fragata Dom Fernando Welfare Institution " ( " Obra Social da Fragata Dom Fernando " ) destined to give general education as well as teaching seamanship to underprivileged youth , up until 3 April 1963 . On this day , when reparations were being made on her , a huge fire erupted , partially destroying the ship ' s hull and structure . After the fire was extinguished , the frigate was towed to an area where the navigation on the river Tagus wouldn ' t be disturbed , remaining abandoned and half buried in the mud - flats for the next 29 years . Reconstruction . In October 1990 the Portuguese Navy and the " National Commission for the Commemoration of the Portuguese Discoveries " initiated efforts in order of restoring the frigate as she was in the 1850s . In 22 January 1992 , the wooden hull was removed from the mud - flats and set floating again , placed in a floating dock and transported to the dry dock of the Arsenal of Alfeite first , and in 1993 to the Ria - Marine shipyards in Aveiro , where it remained for the next 5 years being restored , receiving widespread public and private support . On 27 April 1998 , the Dom Fernando II e Glória was reinstated in the Portuguese Navy as an Auxiliary Navy Unit ( " UAM 203 " ) . On 12 August 1998 , it is delivered to the Navy Museum after being considered by Decree an Historical Navy Ship on 18 July 1998 . During its stay on the " Expo ' 98 " that marked the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the sea route to India by Vasco da Gama , she was a major attraction being visited by almost 900 . 000 people . In September 1998 , the " World Ship Trust " awards the Dom Fernando II e Glória with the International " Maritime Heritage Award " , who considers her restoration as one of the most astonishing historic ship preservation achievements of our time . The " International Register of Historic Ships " considers the " Dom Fernando II e Glória " as the fourth oldest armed frigate , and the eight oldest sailing warship in the world .