Other-waters

'HMS Beagle' was a Royal Navy ship, made famous for the second voyage she made (with Charles Darwin aboard).

'Beagle' was launched 11 May 1820 as a 90ft (27m), 10-gun brig from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. There was no immediate need for 'Beagle' so she was kept in reserve for five years.

First Voyage

On 27 September 1825 'Beagle' docked at Woolwich for repairs and fitted out for her new duties. Her guns were reduced from ten cannons to six and her deck was raised by 18 inches (457mm), these alterations were done to increase the space below decks. A mizzenmast was added to improve her manoeuvrability thereby changing her from a brig to a barque.

On 22 May 1826 'Beagle' set sail for her first voyage, a survey mission of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. She was under the command of Captain Pringle Stokes and also on board was Lieutenant Robert FitzRoy.

While surveying Tierra del Fuego, Captain Pringle Stokes shot himself and died 11 days later. Robert FitzRoy was put in temporary command of the Beagle.

Beagle ended her first voyage when she returned to Plymouth, England on 14 October 1830, bringing with her four native Fuegians, including Jemmy Button.

Second Voyage

It was originally intended that Chanticleer would make the second South American Survey, but due to her poor condition 'Beagle' was substituted for the voyage. On 25 June 1831 Robert FitzRoy was re-appointed as commander.

Beagle was originally scheduled to leave on October 24, 1831 but because of delays in her preparations the departure was delayed until December. She attempted to depart on 10 December but ran into bad weather. Finally, on December 27 at 2:00 pm, the naturalist Charles Darwin and the 'Beagle' left Plymouth harbour on what was to become a groundbreaking oceanographic expedition. On 7 January 1835, the 'Beagle' anchored off the coast of the Chonos Archipelago.

Third Voyage

The third voyage of the 'Beagle' took place between 1837 and 1847 under the command of Commander John Wickham. During this voyage she made the first charts of large parts of the coast of Australia.

Final years

Towards the end of her working life, 'Beagle' was used by Customs and Excise as an anti-smuggling patrol vessel along the Essex coast - particularly along the marshes south of Burnham-on-Crouch. In 1870, she was sold to local scrap merchants, and - according to reports in the Observer newspaper (15 February 2004) - she may subsequently have been abandoned to sink into the mud on the north bank of the River Roach.

The 'Beagle 2', a Mars space probe named after 'HMS Beagle', unsuccessfully landed 25 December 2003

Text above found somewhere sometime at Wikipedia and available under GNU Free Doc License.