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- Aug 20, 2023
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For our 30th wedding anniversary in 2026 we started planning a vacation to Portugal. During the early stages of planning our trip to Lisbon I learned of the Frigate Dom Fernando II e Glória. This frigate was last exclusively sailing warship of the Portuguese Navy and the last vessel that made the so-called "India Run", a route connecting Portugal to its old possession in India.
In 1938 she was re-designated as the Flagship of the Congenital Naval forces of Portugal and served this noble role until 1963 when on 3rd of April tragedy struck. While undergoing restoration and general repair a massive fire broke out on board the ship, despite hours of valiant fighting by the Portuguese Navy, Firefighter’s, and the Cadets/students aboard the Dom Fernando II e Glória was reduced to a burnt-out hulk with very little left above the waterline (although many fittings were saved by firefighter’s, 3 of which refused to leave the burning ship without the National Flag that was flying from her main mast). Several days later the wrecked hulk of what was once Dom Fernando II e Glória was towed to an area of the River Targus where she would not impede navigation. The hulk of Dom Fernando II e Glória was then abandoned and left to rot in the mudflats for nearly 29 years, alone and almost forgotten by all except a few.
In October of 1990 both the Portuguese Navy and the National Commission for the Commemoration of the Portuguese Discoveries began efforts to salvage and restore the hulk of Dom Fernando II e Glória. These efforts were a major success and on January 22nd, 1992 Dom Fernando II e Glória was refloated and placed on a floating drydock. Restoration would take around five years to complete and was done with the utmost care and attention to historical detail, many of the fittings salvaged during the 1963 fire were brought back aboard and reinstalled. By 1997 the ship was mostly restored and left drydock.
On the 27th of April 1998 the Dom Fernando II e Glória was officially reinstated as the ceremonial flagship of the Portuguese Navy and was received a navy designation as UAM 203. In 1998 she was brought to Lisbon and partook in Expo 98 as a symbol of Portuguese accomplishment in naval exploration. Today the Dom Fernando II e Glória is not just a museum ship, but it also hold two great honors one of which is being the fourth oldest armed frigate, and the eight oldest sailing warship in the world and the other is the fact that her restoration is considered to be “one of the most astonishing historic ship preservation achievements of our time” by the former World Ship Trust.
Upon learning its history I grew very excited at the opportunity to visit this historic tall ship and of course, as I had done after visiting the schooner Bluenose back in 2023, build a model of it. I had my next project! (Perhaps others have visited Frigate Dom Fernando II e Glória as well)
I immediately started sourcing photos plans and started looking for kits that were available. In April 2026 I sent out a message on SHIPS OF SCALE looking for assistance in locating a discontinued kit that Revel produced back in 2010. I quickly received a lead from a fellow Ships of Scale member Corsair from Homosassa, Florida saying there was one available on Ebay. I had the kit in hand in a couple of weeks and kept it in my den awaiting the return from our visit to Lisbon and visit to the Fragata D. Fernando II e Glória. Thanks Corsair!
We had a wonderful trip to Portugal and I took over 150 reference photos for my second build.
I also found that google maps has a great complete full walk through tour of the ship that I could use as a reference. Enjoy!
earth.app.goo.gl
Let the modeling begin ....
In 1938 she was re-designated as the Flagship of the Congenital Naval forces of Portugal and served this noble role until 1963 when on 3rd of April tragedy struck. While undergoing restoration and general repair a massive fire broke out on board the ship, despite hours of valiant fighting by the Portuguese Navy, Firefighter’s, and the Cadets/students aboard the Dom Fernando II e Glória was reduced to a burnt-out hulk with very little left above the waterline (although many fittings were saved by firefighter’s, 3 of which refused to leave the burning ship without the National Flag that was flying from her main mast). Several days later the wrecked hulk of what was once Dom Fernando II e Glória was towed to an area of the River Targus where she would not impede navigation. The hulk of Dom Fernando II e Glória was then abandoned and left to rot in the mudflats for nearly 29 years, alone and almost forgotten by all except a few.
In October of 1990 both the Portuguese Navy and the National Commission for the Commemoration of the Portuguese Discoveries began efforts to salvage and restore the hulk of Dom Fernando II e Glória. These efforts were a major success and on January 22nd, 1992 Dom Fernando II e Glória was refloated and placed on a floating drydock. Restoration would take around five years to complete and was done with the utmost care and attention to historical detail, many of the fittings salvaged during the 1963 fire were brought back aboard and reinstalled. By 1997 the ship was mostly restored and left drydock.
On the 27th of April 1998 the Dom Fernando II e Glória was officially reinstated as the ceremonial flagship of the Portuguese Navy and was received a navy designation as UAM 203. In 1998 she was brought to Lisbon and partook in Expo 98 as a symbol of Portuguese accomplishment in naval exploration. Today the Dom Fernando II e Glória is not just a museum ship, but it also hold two great honors one of which is being the fourth oldest armed frigate, and the eight oldest sailing warship in the world and the other is the fact that her restoration is considered to be “one of the most astonishing historic ship preservation achievements of our time” by the former World Ship Trust.
Upon learning its history I grew very excited at the opportunity to visit this historic tall ship and of course, as I had done after visiting the schooner Bluenose back in 2023, build a model of it. I had my next project! (Perhaps others have visited Frigate Dom Fernando II e Glória as well)
I immediately started sourcing photos plans and started looking for kits that were available. In April 2026 I sent out a message on SHIPS OF SCALE looking for assistance in locating a discontinued kit that Revel produced back in 2010. I quickly received a lead from a fellow Ships of Scale member Corsair from Homosassa, Florida saying there was one available on Ebay. I had the kit in hand in a couple of weeks and kept it in my den awaiting the return from our visit to Lisbon and visit to the Fragata D. Fernando II e Glória. Thanks Corsair!
We had a wonderful trip to Portugal and I took over 150 reference photos for my second build.
I also found that google maps has a great complete full walk through tour of the ship that I could use as a reference. Enjoy!
Google Earth
Let the modeling begin ....
