Editing HMS Beagle (section)

==First voyage (1826–1830)==
Captain [[Pringle Stokes]] was appointed captain of ''Beagle'' on 7 September 1825, and the ship was allocated to the surveying section of the [[United Kingdom Hydrographic Office|Hydrographic Office]]. On 27 September 1825 ''The Beagle'' docked at Woolwich to be repaired and fitted out for her new duties.<!--not in Taylor: at a total cost of £5,913.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}--> Her guns were reduced from ten cannon to six and a [[mizzen]] mast was added to improve her handling, thereby changing her from a [[brig]] to a [[barque|bark]] (or barque).{{sfn|Taylor|2008|pp=33, 36–37}}

'' The Beagle'' set sail from [[Plymouth]] on 22 May 1826 on her first voyage, under the command of Captain Stokes. The mission was to accompany the larger ship [[HMS Aid (1809)|HMS ''Adventure'']] (380&nbsp;tons) on a [[Hydrography|hydrographic]] survey of [[Patagonia]] and [[Tierra del Fuego]], under the overall command of the Australian Captain [[Phillip Parker King]], [[Commander (Royal Navy)|commander]] and surveyor.{{sfn|King|1839|pp=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F10.1&pageseq=20 xi–xix]}}<ref>{{cite web |quote=King was born on Norfolk Island and left for England in 1796. |publisher=Government of NSW |url=http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/indexes/colsec/k/F31c_kh-ky-03.htm |title=Colonial Secretary Index, 1788–1825: King, John (1822) to King, R |website=State Records New South Wales |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060918055123/http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/indexes/colsec/k/F31c_kh-ky-03.htm |archive-date=18 September 2006}}</ref>

On 3 March 1827, in the [[Barbara Channel]], the ''Beagle'' encountered a boat with survivors of the sealer {{ship||Prince of Saxe Coburg|1816 ship|2}}, which had wrecked in [[Cockburn Channel]] on 16 December 1826. Stokes sent two launches to rescue the other survivors who were encamped there.<ref name=DFB>[https://www.falklandsbiographies.org/biographies/brisbane_matthew Dictionary of Falklands Biography – Brisbane, Matthew (1797–1833). Retrieved 1 September 2021.]</ref>

Faced with the more difficult part of the survey in the desolate waters of Tierra del Fuego, Captain Stokes fell into a deep depression. At [[Puerto del Hambre|Port Famine]] on the [[Strait of Magellan]], he locked himself in his cabin for 14 days, then after getting over-excited and talking of preparing for the next cruise, shot himself on 2 August 1828. Following four days of delirium, Stokes recovered slightly, but then his condition deteriorated and he died on 12 August 1828.<ref>{{cite web |author=Robin McKie |date=28 June 2003 |url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/biography/0,,986985,00.html |work=Guardian |title=Man on a suicide mission}}</ref>{{sfn|King|1839|pp=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F10.1&pageseq=219 150–153]}} Captain Parker King then replaced Stokes with the First Lieutenant of ''Beagle'', Lieutenant William George Skyring as commander, and both ships sailed to [[Montevideo]]. On 13 October, King sailed ''Adventure'' to [[Rio de Janeiro]] for refitting and provisions. During this work Rear Admiral Sir [[Robert Otway]], commander in chief of the [[Pacific Station|South American station]], arrived aboard {{HMS|Ganges|1821|6}} and announced his decision that ''Beagle'' was also to be brought to Montevideo for repairs, and that he intended to supersede Skyring. When ''Beagle'' arrived, Otway put the ship under the command of his aide, Flag Lieutenant [[Robert FitzRoy]].{{sfn|King |1839|p=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F10.1&pageseq=261 188]}}

The 23-year-old aristocrat FitzRoy proved an able commander and meticulous surveyor. In one incident a group of [[Fuegians]] stole a ship's boat, and FitzRoy took their families on board as hostages. Eventually, he held two men, a girl and a boy, who was given the name of [[Jemmy Button]], and these four native Fuegians were taken back with them when ''Beagle'' returned to<!--FitzRoy's narrative p 3 suggests Falmouth [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]],--> England on 14 October 1830. During their brief sojourn in England, Boat Memory, the most promising of the four, died of smallpox.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Fitzroy and the Fuegians: A Clash of Cultures |author=Larry Douglas Smith |magazine=Anglican and Episcopal History |volume=59 |number=3 |date=September 1990 |pages=386–403}}</ref>

During this survey, the [[Beagle Channel]] was identified and named after the ship.<ref name=glaciers>{{cite web |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=side&itemID=A345&pageseq=2 |title=An 1830s View from Outside Switzerland: Charles Darwin on the "Beryl Blue" Glaciers of Tierra del Fuego |author=Herbert, Sandra |year=1999 |publisher=Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae |pages=92: 339–346 |access-date=22 December 2008}}</ref>

The log book from the first voyage, in Captain FitzRoy's handwriting, was acquired at auction at [[Sotheby's]] by the ''Museo Naval de la Nación'' (under the administration of the [[Argentine Navy]]) located in [[Tigre, Buenos Aires Province]], Argentina, where it is now preserved.<ref>e-mail message dated 16 January 2014 from Pablo Pereyra, museólogo, Museo Naval de la Nación, to Kenneth Wills</ref>