 Vasco da Gama was a central battery ironclad which entered service with the Portuguese Navy in 1876 , serving until 1935 . She was built by the Thames Iron Works in London , launched in 1876 , and completed in 1878 . She served as the flagship of the Portuguese fleet for the majority of her long and peaceful career . She was rebuilt and heavily modernized between 1901 and 1903 . Long @-@ since obsolete by the 1930s , Vasco da Gama was finally sold for scrapping in 1935 . 
