Gago Coutinho: Traveler and Explorer

Son of José Viegas Gago Coutinho and Fortunata Maria Coutinho, Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho was born on February 17, 1869, in the parish of Santa Maria de Belém, near the Maritime Museum. Gago Coutinho’s life was a long and eventful one. Not only did he become an experienced Navy officer, but he was also a tireless geographer, an aerial navigator and inventor of new navigational techniques, a curious scientist and a rigorous historian.

Belonged to Admiral Gago Coutinho.

Belonged to Admiral Gago Coutinho

Gago Coutinho enrolled in the Naval College in 1886, being promoted to first class midshipman in 1888.  He completed a commission in the Eastern Africa Naval Division aboard the corvette Afonso de Albuquerque (1888 to 1891), participating in the military engagements in Tungue (Mozambique). 

In 1911, as a Commander junior, after returning from geographical campaigns, Gago Coutinho commanded the gunboat Sado in the India Naval Station as well as, in 1912, the gunboat Pátria in Timor.

Ever since an early age, Gago Coutinho had shown an interest in Geography and Geodesy, his true passions. One of Gago Coutinho’s most recognized aspects was that of Geographer, and it was with that epithet that he chose to be known in perpetuity, by engraving in his tombstone the sole word Geographer.

Geodetic missions required the geographic reconnaissance of the territory as well as the arduous task of constructing geodetic landmarks used for the triangulation process. In these campaigns, the terrain was generally traversed on foot, sometimes across the jungle and with several restrictions of supplies and food.

Aluminum cup, which belonged to Gago Coutinho, signed by himself and used between 1903 and 1955.  The works he participated in, consisting of the delimitation of borders and the geodetic triangulation of territories, were some of the most scientifically valuable works produced by the Portuguese in Asia and Africa.

Is an instrument for measuring horizontal and vertical angles. It is used in topographic and geodesic surveys, and it allows the determination of triangulation networks, trough the observation of angles in different points on the ground. 

In 1933, he wrote a text when saying farewell to his geographical activity, where his connection to the African and Timorese people is clear. Due to his relationship with the local populations, he became critical toward forms of prejudice related to racial superiority.

Throughout his life, Admiral Gago Coutinho wrote essays, developed inventions and completed relevant experiments with wireless telegraphy and magnetism, studied artillery and new weapon systems (“modificação do aparelho de governo do torpedo Whitehead” – “modification of the control device on the Whitehead torpedo”), and analyzed shipbuilding and technical problems with navigation.

Gago Coutinho developed an innovative process to determine the position of an aircraft over the sea, using the techniques of astronomical navigation used on board ships. To measure the heigh of the stars they used the sextant, modified in order to observe the stars when horizon line was not visible.

The modification consisted in the introduction of an artificial horizon system to the nautical sextant. 
This nautical instrument turned out to be fundamental in the success of the First Air Crossing of the South Atlantic.

Belonged to Admiral Gago Coutinho.

During his life, encountered different lands and peoples around the four corners of the world. The most emblematic of these connections was with Brazil, where Gago Coutinho would return to on different occasions.  This item was given to him and, in the front, it has a representation of the First South Atlantic Air Crossing, linking Portugal to Brazil.

Photograph of the Admiral, on a trip to Brazil, a place that will remain in his memory forever.

Gago Coutinho’s interest in Nautical History and the Portuguese Explorations intensified throughout the years, motivated by his experience as a sailor, a geographer and an aerial navigator. His mathematical training as a field geographer and as a Navy officer was decisive in the last stage of his life as a historian of navigational techniques.

Possible route of the trip in 1497/1498 and back in 1498/1499, starring Vasco da Gama and which meant the "revelation of the sea route to India", made by Admiral Gago Coutinho. His contribution to the historiography of the Portuguese Explorations focused on the study of the routes of Portuguese voyages in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Gago Coutinho became an icon for the country, despite his simple and modest character. He defined an era. Serving as an example for many Navy officers and for Portuguese society itself, his life became enshrined in the pantheon of Portuguese heroes. He died on February 18, 1959, one day after his 90th birthday.