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Arsenal do Alfeite

The year 1928 started the construction of Arsenal do Alfeite [Arsenal of Alfeite], funded by the German compensation of the First World War, after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The construction works were completed in December 1937 and came into full operation in 1938, but only on 03 May 1939 was the Arsenal of Alfeite formally inaugurated. The Arsenal of Alfeite, created by Decree-Law No. 408 28, 31 December 1937, then was considered one of the largest and best equipped establishments of its kind.

Since then the Arsenal of Alfeite began his work with the repairs of the destroyers of the Navy, "Dão" and "Tâmega, the latter being the first ship to dock at the Shipyard. The pair of these repairs, started the construction of ships, taking on the day of the inauguration of the Shipyard, been performed the ceremony of "fixing the keel", that would be the first ship to be built, the Hydrographic ship "d. João de Castro". Thus was launched the activity of the yard that would be a reference for many decades, the national and international level, not just in the construction, repair and maintenance of military ships, as well as in the construction of large, medium and small vessels.

The three decades that followed - 1940s, 1950s and 1960s - were characterized by relatively large management autonomy, which allowed the AA, not only the construction of ships for military and other government agencies, such as: multiple classes of Patrol (N.P.) and (L.F.P); Diva passenger transport; Cargo barges; Tugs; and even an oil tanker, the "Sam Bras" (1st oil tanker built in Portugal), but also contribute to the development of National Merchant Marine with the construction of large ships to the then designated Soponata (Sociedade Portuguesa de Navios Tank), oil tankers Sameiro: "", "São Mamede", "" and "Gerês Erati," the latter with 191.7 metres long and 35625 tons of displacement, was the largest ship built in AA. Also the construction of the cargo ship (Hull) "Brink", for the National Navigation Company. In this long period the AA built also to foreign shipowners, namely: the United Kingdom, fishing trawlers, "Portisham" and "Portaferry"; of Sweden, (Hull) oil tanker "Hector Heron"; and by the late 1960s, of Liechtenstein, the yacht "Donapila II", a project of the Portuguese architect Jorge de Almeida Araújo.

From the 1970s several works helped increase the operational capacities of the yard, including the construction of a dry dock and a floating dock, the latter, built in AA, intended primarily to docar and repairing submarines class "Yellowfin". These submarines for which repairs and maintenance, the A.A. degree in France and in Portugal, workers and technicians with high degree of expertise and a dedicated service, the IRS (Inspection, repair of Submarines). Thus, in the 1970s and 1980s the docking capacity increase enabled the Shipyard perform major revisions (GR 's) of Frigates and submarines, broadening the scope of the maintenance of naval Fleet, which includes, by its importance the vast modernization of Ship school "Sagres" in 1988.

Yet in these two decades the Shipyard did accomplished some large naval works, beginning in the early 1970s by the construction of a Guided Ship, "Shultz Xavier". Later, because of the openness policy checked with the 25 April 1974, the Shipyard has extended even its market, building two large Refrigerated cargo ships, the "Dzieci-Polskie" and "Zyrardów" for Poland. Followed: a landing Boat ("); several Boats landing averages (LDM); an "Oceanic Research vessel"; several Stars of passenger transport; two Speedboats lifeguards; Surveillance boats, class "Albatross"; two River Boats, "Andromeda and" Auriga ".

Between 1990 and the present day occurred several restructurings being the more important that came to create new values and capabilities to the Shipyard, such as integration into the AA armament, workshops and electronic creation and accreditation of Laboratories of AAand also, at the level of production management, improvement with the implementation in 1994 of SIAGIP (computerised support for integrated management of production). On the other hand continued the trend of the previous decade had already, to a significant and progressive decrease in the number of workers and management, increasing dependence of the hierarchy of M.G.P. In the 1990s, corresponding to the best interests of the Navy, the AA has ensured the specialization of workers, not only in Portugal and abroad, for the maintenance of the Frigates of the class "Vasco da Gama", in particular in the fields of mechanics, electricity, electronics and weaponry. Although the maintenance of ships pass the predominate, with regard to the volume of work, noted for their importance, aspects of construction and technological innovation. In this context, concurrently with the major repairs of ships of the Armada, the Shipyard continued, as in previous decades, at the forefront in various areas of National Shipbuilding, with own and technologically innovative projects – prototypes – some hi-tech, projected for the first time in Portugal.

The constructions are example of coastal patrol Boats GRP (fiberglass reinforced Plastic, glass), the class "Argos", with an innovative system of release and moving collection, semi-rigid craft, Patrol Boats for the Republic of Guinea-BissauGRP/joint project, aluminium, propelled by hidrojactos, Coastal Patrol Boats in the naval aluminium, class "Centaur", two Boats of the port Supervision, the class "Bolina", with design and manufacture assisted by computer-CAD/CAM, three Boats for the ISN, "nautical" stability of type auto-endireitante. Also in this period, in the mid-1990s, the project, part of the construction and aprestamento (with the exception of hull, rebuilt in Aveiro on shipyard "Ria Marine") a war Frigate. 19th ' d. Fernando II e Glória ' made in AA with intense historical research and consulting foreign and primed for EXPO 98.

Other works worthy of note, for shipbuilding and Engineering, such as the manufacture of large structures: sheet metal forming and building blocks for superpetroleiros of Lisnave in Margueira; forming of plate and blocks for ships built in Viana do Castelo; elements of cranes or gantries-e.g.: bogis, throws and legs of the portico "Setenave" Mitrena, etc. With regard to training, it is known that over the last seventy years the AA has been a "school" of Naval Industry and national engineering, because the contribution these Industries, specialized in AA by workers over the years, is so extensive that its consequences can hardly be assessed. These are just some examples: the movement and residence for several years of the 1960s and 1970s, a team of masters of AA in the shipyard of Viana do Castelo, for training of Shipyard in ship building blocks, the training given by technicians from the AAin the training schools of Lisnave or many professionals of diverse technological areas, joined in industries across the metropolitan area of Lisbon, whose training was acquired in the workshops of the yard, or start at AA training schoolcreated in the early seventies.

In 1990 the AA was graced by Mr. President of the Republic, Dr. Mário Soares in connection with the fiftieth anniversary of the shipyard, the insignia of honorary member of the order of agricultural merit and Industrial (Industrial merit Class). In 2007, the Mayor of Almada decided to assign to the AA the badge and gold medal of the city of Almada, the highest distinction.

After seven decades of activity, the Ministry of national defence, through Decree-Law No. 32/2009 of 5 February, established the extinction of the Arsenal of Alfeite for empresarialização. Succeeds, then the "Arsenal of Alfeite", the Arsenal of Alfeite, S.A., established by Decree-Law No. 33/2009 of 5 February, lodged with the public limited-liability company, with capitais exclusivamente públicos, which integrates the EMPORDEF naval cluster, SGPS, S.A., holding of Portuguese defence industries whose business consists in the management of State-owned shareholdings in companies linked directly or indirectly to defence activities, such as indirect economic activities. The Arsenal of Alfeite, S.A. started its activity on 1 September 2009, having in its origins the need of creating an entity reference in the shipbuilding industry, nationally and internationally, imposed by technological developments in this industrial sector. Under the Marine resource maintenance plan, despite the environment of strong budgetary constraints, a contract was signed on 24 January 2011 by Arsenal of Alfeite, S.A. and by the Navy, Docking and Repairs to the mid-term review (R03/D03) of N.R.P. "Álvares Cabral", with a length of 170 days and global price of 6.6 M € plus VAT at the rate in force.