July 8, 1497

Vasco da Gama

Vasco da Gama’s first India fleet sails from Restelo

One of the four ships was expendable by design: it carried the provisions and was meant to be dismantled once its cargo had served its purpose.

Saturday, 8 July 1497, below Lisbon

Four vessels under Vasco da Gama left Restelo, just below Lisbon, on Saturday, 8 July 1497, to make discoveries and seek spices.

The fleet was the naus São Gabriel and São Rafael, the caravel Bérrio, and a smaller stores vessel carrying provisions. Vasco commanded the expedition and São Gabriel; his brother Paulo commanded São Rafael, and Nicolau Coelho commanded Bérrio.

A prayer vigil, then the Tagus

The departure followed a prayer vigil and a religious ceremony. The expedition's surviving first-hand journal opens with a prayer that God permit the voyage to be accomplished in his service.

That journal is anonymous, and its traditional attribution to Álvaro Velho is plausible but not proven. Because it states both the weekday and the date, the departure is unusually securely fixed.

What is not known about the fleet

The complement was not certainly 170: a scholarly review reports source estimates between 120 and 170. The storeship's name is not securely recorded, and later accounts supply conflicting identifications.

Manuel I had ordered the preparations completed and dispatched the four vessels; João II had sponsored earlier exploration and planning but was not the sovereign who sent this fleet.

By the end of the day the ships were outbound from the Tagus. Within a week they sighted the Canaries, and after fog separated them they followed their prearranged plan and regrouped near Cape Verde.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources 2 audit passes

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What the sources leave uncertain

The departure date is unusually secure because the expedition’s surviving eyewitness journal states both the weekday and date.
The complement was not certainly 170. A scholarly review reports source estimates between 120 and 170.
The journal is anonymous. Its traditional attribution to Álvaro Velho is plausible but not proven.
The storeship’s name is not securely recorded; later accounts supply conflicting identifications.