The hospital ship Gil Eanes was designed and built at the Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo (Viana Shipyard), 1955. From 1955 to 1963 the ship was assigned to her duties of medical assistance to the cod fishing fleets of Portugal and other countries on the Newfoundland and Greenland Seas.

Sold for scrap in 1977.

The community of Viana do Castelo decided to bring her back to her birthplace and, after major repairs at Viana Yard, she was permanently berthed as a museum in the old docks of Viana.