Editing HMS Beagle (section)

{{Short description|10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy; notably carried Charles Darwin}}
{{Redirect|The Beagle|other uses|Beagle (disambiguation)}}
{{Other ships|List of ships named HMS Beagle}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = PSM V57 D097 Hms beagle in the straits of magellan.png
| Ship caption = HMS ''Beagle'' in the [[Straits of Magellan]] in front of the towering [[Monte Sarmiento]], a reproduction of [[Robert Taylor Pritchett|R. T. Pritchett]]'s frontispiece from the 1890 illustrated edition of ''[[The Voyage of the Beagle]]''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Ship country = United Kingdom
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
| Ship ordered = 16 February 1817
| Ship original cost = £7,803
| Ship laid down = June 1818
| Ship launched = 11 May 1820
| Ship commissioned = 1820
| Ship decommissioned = 1845, transferred to Coastguard
| Ship fate = Sold and broken up 1870; also possibly resting at [[Paglesham]] East End, [[Rochford Rural District]], Essex ({{Coord|51|35|45|N|00|48|49|E|type:landmark_region:GB-ESS|display=title,inline}})
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Ship class = {{sclass|Cherokee|brig-sloop}}
| Ship tons burthen = 235 [[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]]; 242 for second voyage{{sfn|FitzRoy|1839|pp=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F10.2&pageseq=40 17–18]}}
| Ship length = {{cvt|90.3|ft|m}}
| Ship beam = {{cvt|24.5|ft|m}}
| Ship draught = {{cvt|12.5|ft|m}}
| Ship sail plan = [[Brig]] ([[barque]] from 1825)
| Ship complement = 120 as a ship-of-war, 65 plus 9 supernumeraries on second voyage
| Ship armament = 10 guns, reduced to 6 guns for first survey voyage, changed to 7 guns during second survey voyage
}}
|}

'''HMS ''Beagle''''' was a {{sclass|Cherokee|brig-sloop|0}} 10-gun [[sloop-of-war#Rigging|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 [[ship naming and launching|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 George IV]], passing under the old [[London Bridge]], and was the first rigged [[man-of-war]] afloat upriver of the bridge.{{sfn|Taylor|2008|pp=22–24, 36}}{{sfn|Stokes|1846|p=[https://archive.org/details/discoveriesinaus00stok/page/3 3]}} There was no immediate need for ''Beagle'', so she "[[Reserve Fleet (United Kingdom)|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|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]].<ref name="RMG">{{cite web |title=HMS 'Beagle' (1820–70) |url=http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConFactFile.64/HMS-Beagle.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301165637/http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConFactFile.64/HMS-Beagle.html |archive-date=2018-03-01 |access-date=3 February 2013 |work=[[Royal Museums Greenwich]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |page=332 |last=Howitt |first=William |author-link=William Howitt |year=1865 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tsANAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA332 |title=The History of Discovery in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand: From the Earliest Date to the Present Day |publisher=[[Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green]] |location=London |chapter=Voyages of Captains Wickham, Fitzroy, and Stokes, in the Beagle, round the Australian Coasts, from 1837 to 1843 |volume=1}}</ref>