Sagres a Source of Pride for New Bedford’s Portuguese Community

The Portuguese Navy's tall ship Sagres is a source of pride for many in the local Portuguese community. That is why when Sagres docks in New Bedford, it is with a great deal of fanfare.

The 294-foot three-masted barque last visited New Bedford on July 8 and 9, 2015. Before that, Sagres called on New Bedford in 1996.

Sagres participated in the 2009 Sail Boston Celebration but did not return to New Bedford.

In 1937, Sagres – or Albert Leo Schlageter as it was known then – launched from the Blohm and Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany.

Used mainly as an office ship during World War II, the Albert Leo Schlageter struck a Soviet mine off Sassnitz in the Baltic Sea and had to be towed to port in Swinemunde.

Get our free mobile app

At the conclusion of the war in 1945, the United States seized the vessel as a war reparation.

In 1948, the vessel was sold to the Brazilian Navy and renamed Guanabara.

The Portuguese Navy purchased the barque from Bazil for use as a training ship in 1961 and renamed it NPR Sagres.

In 2015, when Sagres last visited New Bedford, officers and crew were treated to a reception with local business and civic leaders. Crew members graciously provided guided public tours of Sagres.

Then Consul of Portugal to New Bedford Pedro Carneiro told O'Jornal editor Lurdes C. da Silva, "It is a very beautiful ship, and it brings such pride for the Portuguese."

On July 26, 1964, Sagres sailed into New Bedford Harbor after sailing from Bristol, Rhode Island.