HMS Beagle

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]