HMS Beagle

Type

Brig

Period

19th Century

Nation

Great Britain

Overview: HMS Beagle was a Royal Navy Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop, the second of several ships to carry the name, famed for carrying Charles Darwin on his 1831–36 circumnavigation that supplied the observations underpinning his theory of evolution. She was one of over 115 ships built to the same mass-produced Cherokee-class design, so she was not unique in construction but became historically significant through her voyages and captain, Robert FitzRoy. Specifications: Beagle was launched as a flush-decked, two-masted 10-gun brig at Woolwich Dockyard. For her famous second voyage she was refitted with a third mast (becoming a bark-rigged brig for handling purposes), had her main deck raised a foot, received two-inch fir sheathing on the hull, and was fitted with a patent stove, windlass, chains in place of some rope rigging, and lightning conductors. She carried around 22 chronometers for longitude survey work and a crew that swelled to roughly 70 people including officers, seamen, marines, and supernumeraries such as Darwin. Service History: Launched on 11 May 1820, Beagle initially had no active role and was converted into a survey ship, completing her first voyage surveying Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego from 1826 to 1830. Her second voyage (1831–36) under FitzRoy took her around South America and around the world with Darwin aboard as naturalist, and in 1833 she assisted British forces in taking control of the Falkland Islands. A third voyage (1837–43) saw her survey the coasts of Australia; she was later converted to a customs watch vessel in 1845–46 and was eventually sold out of service in 1870. Notable Facts: Archaeologists later identified the mud dock in the Paglesham/Essex marshes on the River Roach where Beagle is believed to have been dismantled, and the site was given protected historic-monument status; more recent research has suggested she may instead have been sold onward in 1870 rather than broken up in the marsh. The ship's voyage was also notable as the first systematic use of the Beaufort wind scale for weather observation. A full-size replica of HMS Beagle was later built and is displayed at the Museo Nao Victoria in Punta Arenas, Chile.