Warship Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019: Manuel’s least favorite cruiser

Here at LSOZI, we are going to take off every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1833-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week These ships have a life, a tale all their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places.- Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019: Manuel’s least favorite cruiser

Université de Caen Basse-Normandie from Caen, France (15225939616)

Here we see the unique third-class protected cruiser Adamastor of the (sometimes Royal) Portuguese Navy. A tiny ship for her type, she put in a lot of unsung service over a four-decade career.

While Portugal had one of the world’s best navies in the days of Afonso de Albuquerque and Vasco De Gama, by the late 1890s, the empire was in steep decline. With only about 300 merchant ships carrying the country’s flag– mostly sailing vessels– Portugal did not have a…