 HMS Beagle in the Straits of Magellan in front of the towering Monte Sarmiento, a reproduction of R. T. Pritchett's frontispiece from the 1890 illustrated edition of The Voyage of the Beagle.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Ordered | 16 February 1817 |
| Cost | £7,803 |
| Laid down | June 1818 |
| Launched | 11 May 1820 |
| Commissioned | 1820 |
| Decommissioned | 1845, transferred to Coastguard |
| Fate | Sold and broken up 1870 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Cherokee-class brig-sloop |
| Tons burthen | 235 bm; 242 for second voyage[1] |
| Length | 90.3 ft (27.5 m) |
| Beam | 24.5 ft (7.5 m) |
| Draught | 12.5 ft (3.8 m) |
| Sail plan | Brig (barque from 1825) |
| Complement | 120 as a ship-of-war, 65 plus 9 supernumeraries on second voyage |
| Armament | 10 guns, reduced to 6 guns for first survey voyage, changed to 7 guns during second survey voyage |
HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803, was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. Later reports say the ship took part in celebrations of the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom, passing under the old London Bridge, and was the first rigged man-of-war afloat upriver of the bridge.[2][3] There was no immediate need for Beagle, so she "lay in ordinary", moored afloat but without masts or rigging. She was then adapted as a survey barque and took part in three survey expeditions.
The second voyage of HMS Beagle is notable for carrying the recently graduated naturalist Charles Darwin around the world. While the survey work was carried out, Darwin travelled and researched geology, natural history and ethnology onshore. He gained fame by publishing his diary journal, best known as The Voyage of the Beagle, and his findings played a pivotal role in the formation of his scientific theories on evolution and natural selection.[4][5]
- ^ FitzRoy 1839, pp. 17–18.
- ^ Taylor 2008, pp. 22–24, 36.
- ^ Stokes 1846, p. 3.
- ^ "HMS 'Beagle' (1820–70)". Royal Museums Greenwich. Archived from the original on 1 March 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- ^ Howitt, William (1865). "Voyages of Captains Wickham, Fitzroy, and Stokes, in the Beagle, round the Australian Coasts, from 1837 to 1843". The History of Discovery in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand: From the Earliest Date to the Present Day. Vol. 1. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green. p. 332.