One task that has always been considered very important in the Navy is the training of its personnel making training ships a requirement. In Portugal, the most well-known training ship is the school-ship Sagres, known throughout the world for its sails bearing the Order of Christ Cross. The older generations still remember another boat with the same name that served as a school-ship until almost 50 years ago. We can say that, for almost a century, there has been a ship with that name dedicated to the training of several generations of Portuguese sailors. However, others ships have also played that role.
During World War I, Portugal seized a German tall ship, the Rickmer Rickmers, that ended up serving as a training ship in the 1920s. She was christened Sagres, certainly as a tribute to the legendary school of Prince Henry.
In 1962, another German tall ship arrived in Portugal, seized by the U.S. at the end of the Second World War. The Albert Leo Schlageter had previously served in the Brazilian Navy under the name of Guanabara. However, the vessel came to Portugal and, after being christened Sagres, she replaced the previous one. Some years later, the former Sagres returned to Germany, where it is currently a museum under its original German name.
Roger Chapelet, a French navy painter, travelled aboard the current Sagres on several occasions. His fascination was such that he devoted several paintings to the school-ship, having represented other Portuguese ships in his paintings as well.