Editing HMS Beagle

{{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>

==Design and construction==
The {{sclass|Cherokee|brig-sloop|4}} of 10-gun [[sloop-of-war#Rigging|brig-sloops]] was designed by Sir Henry Peake in 1807, and eventually over 100 were constructed. The working drawings for HMS ''Beagle'' and HMS ''Barracouta'' were issued to the [[Woolwich Dockyard]] on 16 February 1817, and amended in coloured ink on 16 July 1817 with modifications to increase the height of the bulwarks (the sides of the ship extended above the upper deck) by an amount varying from {{Convert|6|in|cm}} at the stem to {{Convert|4|in|cm}} at the stern. ''Beagle''{{'}}s [[keel]] was [[Keel laying|laid]] in June 1818, construction cost £7,803, and the ship was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 11 May 1820.{{sfn|Taylor|2008|pp=22–24, 36}}

The first reported task of the ship was a part in celebrations of the coronation of King [[George IV]];{{sfn|Taylor|2008|pp=22–24, 36}} in his 1846 ''Journal'', [[John Lort Stokes]] said that the ship was taken up the [[River Thames]] to salute the coronation, passing through the old [[London Bridge]], and was the first rigged [[man-of-war]] afloat upriver of the bridge.{{sfn|Stokes|1846|p=[https://archive.org/details/discoveriesinaus00stok/page/3 3]}}<ref>{{harvnb|Stokes|1846|loc=[[s:Discoveries in Australia/Volume 1/Chapter 1|Volume 1, Chapter 1]]}}. "her first exploit was the novel and unprecedented one of passing through old London bridge (the first rigged man-of-war that had ever floated so high upon the waters of the Thames) in order to salute at the coronation of King George the Fourth."</ref>

==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>

==Second voyage (1831–1836)==
{{main|Second voyage of HMS Beagle}}

FitzRoy had been given reason to hope that the South American Survey would be continued under his command, but when the Lords of the Admiralty appeared to abandon the plan, he made alternative arrangements to return the Fuegians. A kind uncle heard of this and contacted the Admiralty. Soon afterwards FitzRoy heard that he was to be appointed commander of {{HMS|Chanticleer|1808|6}} to go to Tierra del Fuego, but due to her poor condition ''Beagle'' was substituted for the voyage. FitzRoy was re-appointed as commander on 27 June 1831 and ''Beagle'' was [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 4 July 1831 under his command, with Lieutenants [[John Clements Wickham]] and [[Bartholomew Sulivan|Bartholomew James Sulivan]].{{sfn|FitzRoy|1839|pp=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F10.2&pageseq=36 13–17]}}

''Beagle'' was immediately taken into dock at [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]] for extensive rebuilding and refitting. As she required a new deck, FitzRoy had the upper-deck raised considerably, by {{convert|8|in|mm}} aft and {{convert|12|in|mm}} forward. The ''Cherokee''-class ships had the reputation of being "[[coffin]]" brigs, which handled badly and were prone to sinking. Apart from increasing headroom below, the raised deck made ''Beagle'' less liable to top-heaviness and possible capsize in heavy weather by reducing the volume of water that could collect on top of the upper deck, trapped aboard by the [[gunwale]]s. Additional sheathing added to the hull added about seven tons to her [[Builder's Old Measurement|burthen]] and perhaps fifteen to her displacement.{{sfn|FitzRoy|1839|pp=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F10.2&pageseq=40 17–18]}}{{sfn|Stokes|1846|loc=[[s:Discoveries in Australia/Volume 1/Chapter 1|Volume 1, Chapter 1]]}}

The ship was one of the first to be fitted with the [[lightning rod|lightning conductor]] invented by [[William Snow Harris]]. FitzRoy spared no expense in her fitting out, which included [[List of chronometers on HMS Beagle|22 chronometers]],{{sfn|FitzRoy|1839|pp=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F10.2&pageseq=40 17–18]}}<ref name=RMG/> and five examples of the ''[[Sympiesometer]]'', a kind of [[Mercury (element)|mercury]]-free [[barometer]] patented by [[Alexander Adie]] which was favoured by FitzRoy as giving the accurate readings required by the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.antique-horology.org/_editorial/sympiezometerfontijn/ |title=The sympiesometer designed by Alexander Adie |access-date=30 November 2007 |last=Fontijn |first=Marco |work=The Horological Foundation}}</ref> To reduce magnetic interference with the navigational instruments, FitzRoy proposed replacing the iron guns with brass guns, but the Admiralty turned this request down. (When the ship reached [[Rio de Janeiro]] in April 1832, he used his own funds for replacements: the ship now had a "six-pound boat-carronade" on a turntable on the forecastle, two brass six-pound guns before the main-mast, and aft of it another four brass guns; two of these were nine-pound, and the other two six-pound.){{sfn|Taylor|2008|pp=24, 35}}{{sfn|FitzRoy |1839|p=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F10.2&viewtype=text&pageseq=117 82]}}

FitzRoy had found a need for expert advice on geology during the first voyage, and had resolved that if on a similar expedition, he would "endeavour to carry out a person qualified to examine the land; while the officers, and myself, would attend to hydrography."{{sfn|King|1839|p=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F10.1&pageseq=477 385]}} Command in that era could involve stress and loneliness, as shown by the suicide of Captain Stokes, and FitzRoy's own uncle [[Viscount Castlereagh]] had committed suicide under stress of overwork.{{sfn|Desmond|Moore|1991|p=104}} His attempts to get a friend to accompany him fell through, and he asked his friend and superior Captain [[Francis Beaufort]] to seek a gentleman [[Natural history|naturalist]] as a self-financing passenger who would give him company during the voyage. A sequence of inquiries led to [[Charles Darwin]], a young gentleman on his way to becoming a rural clergyman, joining the voyage.{{sfn|Browne|Neve|1989|pp=4–7}} FitzRoy was influenced by the [[physiognomy]] of [[Johann Kaspar Lavater|Lavater]], and Darwin recounted in his autobiography that he was nearly "rejected, on account of the shape of my nose! He was an ardent disciple of Lavater, & was convinced that he could judge a man's character by the outline of his features; & he doubted whether anyone with my nose could possess sufficient energy & determination for the voyage."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2015/01/fantastically-wrong-physiognomy/ |title=Fantastically Wrong: The Silly Theory That Almost Kept Darwin From Going on His Famous Voyage |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |first=Matt |last=Simon |date=January 2015 |access-date=25 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Darwin |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Darwin |title=[[The Autobiography of Charles Darwin]] |chapter=Recollections of the development of my mind & character |chapter-url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?pageseq=82&itemID=CUL-DAR26.1-121&viewtype=side |editor-last=Darwin |editor-first=Francis |editor-link=Francis Darwin |via=[[The Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online]] |page=49 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |year=1887}}</ref>

''Beagle'' was originally scheduled to leave on 24 October 1831, but because of delays in her preparations the departure was delayed until December. Setting forth on what was to become a ground-breaking scientific expedition, she departed from Devonport on 10 December. Due to bad weather her first stop was just a few miles ahead, at Barn Pool, on the west side of [[Plymouth Sound]].{{sfn|FitzRoy|1839|p=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F10.2&pageseq=65 42]}} ''Beagle'' left anchorage from Barn Pool on 27 December, passing the nearby town of Plymouth. After completing extensive surveys in South America she returned via New Zealand, Sydney, Hobart Town (6 February 1836), to [[Falmouth, Cornwall]], England, on 2 October 1836.{{sfn|FitzRoy|1839|p=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F10.2&pageseq=757 638]}}

Darwin had kept a diary of his experiences, and combined this with details from his scientific notes as the book titled ''Journal and Remarks'', published in 1839 as the third volume of the official account of the expedition. This travelogue and scientific journal was widely popular, and was reprinted many times with various titles and a revised second edition, becoming known as ''[[The Voyage of the Beagle]]''.<ref name=Darwin1839>{{harvnb|Darwin|1839}}</ref> {{harvnb|Darwin| 1989 |pp=2–3, 24}}

<gallery widths=200 heights=200>
File:HMS Beagle by Conrad Martens.jpg|''Beagle'' being hailed by native Fuegians during the survey of [[Tierra del Fuego]], painted by [[Conrad Martens]] who became ship's artist in 1833
File:HMS Beagle 1832 longitudinal section larger.jpg|Longitudinal section of HMS ''Beagle'' as of 1832
File:TheBeagleLaidAshore.png|''The Beagle Laid Ashore'' by the [[Santa Cruz River, Argentina|Santa Cruz river]] in Argentina, drawn by [[Conrad Martens]] (1834), and engraved by [[Thomas Landseer]] (1838)
File:Admiralty Chart No 1375 Galapagos Islands, Published 1841.jpg|Admiralty Chart of the [[Galápagos Islands]], one of the charts resulting from Fitzroy's hydrographic surveys
</gallery>

==Third voyage (1837–1843)==
In the six months after returning from the second voyage, some light repairs were made and ''Beagle'' was commissioned to survey large parts of the coast of Australia under the command of Commander [[John Clements Wickham]], who had been a lieutenant on the second voyage, with assistant surveyor Lieutenant [[John Lort Stokes]] who had been a midshipman on the first voyage of ''Beagle'', then mate and assistant surveyor on the second voyage (no relation to Pringle Stokes). They left Woolwich on 9 June 1837, towed by HM Steamer ''Boxer'', and after reaching Plymouth spent the remainder of the month adjusting their instruments.{{sfn|Stokes|1846|loc=[[s:Discoveries in Australia/Volume 1/Chapter 1|Volume 1, Chapter 1]]}} They set off from Plymouth Sound on the morning of 5 July 1837, and sailed south with stops for observations at [[Tenerife]], [[Salvador, Bahia|Bahia]] and [[Cape Town]].{{sfn|Stokes|1846|loc=[[s:Discoveries in Australia/Volume 1/Chapter 2|Volume 1, Chapter 2]]}}

They reached the [[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]] (modern [[Perth]], Western Australia) on 15 November 1837.{{sfn|Stokes|1846|loc=[[s:Discoveries in Australia/Volume 1/Chapter 3|Volume 1, Chapter 3]]}} Their survey started with the western coast between there and the [[Fitzroy River (Western Australia)|Fitzroy River, Western Australia]], then surveyed both shores of the [[Bass Strait]] at the southeast corner of the continent. To aid ''Beagle'' in her surveying operations in Bass Strait, the Colonial [[Cutter (ship)|cutter]] ''Vansittart'', of Van Diemen's Land, was loaned by Sir [[John Franklin]], Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land, and placed under the command of Mr [[Charles Codrington Forsyth]], the senior mate, assisted by Mr Pasco, another of her mates. In May 1839, they sailed north to survey the shores of the [[Timor Sea|Arafura Sea]] opposite [[Timor]]. When Wickham fell ill and resigned, the command was taken over in March 1841 by Lieutenant John Lort Stokes who continued the survey. The third voyage was completed in 1843.

The exploration of the [[Gulf of Carpentaria]] revealed two major rivers, the [[Albert River (Gulf Savannah)|Albert River]] and the [[Flinders River]].<ref>{{cite news |date=26 July 1843 |title=The Exploring Ship ''Beagle'' |page=3 |newspaper=[[South Australian Register]] |location=South Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27445134 |accessdate=30 August 2023 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Numerous places around the coast were named by Wickham, and subsequently by Stokes when he became captain, often honouring eminent people or the members of the crew. On 9 October 1839 Wickham named [[Port Darwin]], which was first sighted by Stokes, in honour of their former shipmate Charles Darwin. They were reminded of him (and his "geologising") by the discovery there of a new fine-grained sandstone.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Discovery and Exploration of Australia |work=Australia on CD |url=http://www.australiaoncd.com.au/discovery/names7.htm |access-date=24 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303094228/http://www.australiaoncd.com.au/discovery/names7.htm |archive-date=3 March 2011}}</ref> A settlement there became the town of Palmerston in 1869, and was renamed [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]] in 1911 (not to be confused with the present day city of [[Palmerston, Northern Territory|Palmerston]] near Darwin).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Northern-Territory/Darwin/2005/02/17/1108500201604.html |title=Darwin |date=8 February 2004 |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref>

During this survey, the [[Beagle Gulf]] was named after the ship.<ref>{{cite book |last=Armstrong |first=Patrick H. |title=All Things Darwin: A–I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BwwhAQAAIAAJ |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |year=2007 |quote=Captain Wickham named the Beagle Gulf, and Port Darwin in what is now Australia's Northern Territory |chapter=Darwin, City of |page=564 |isbn=9780313334931}}</ref>

''[[Nicotiana benthamiana]]'', a species of [[tobacco]] used from the 1990s as a platform for the production of [[Recombinant DNA|recombinant pharmaceutical proteins]], was first collected for scientific study on the north coast of Australia by Benjamin Bynoe during this voyage.<ref>{{cite news |last=Patton |first=Janet |url=https://www.kentucky.com/news/business/article44501997.html|title=How Owensboro tobacco grew a possible miracle drug to treat Ebola|date=12 November 2015|orig-date=First version published 9 August 2014|newspaper=[[Lexington Herald Leader]]}}</ref>

<gallery widths=200 heights=180>
File:HMSBeagle.jpg|In 1837 HMS ''Beagle'' set off on a survey of Australia, and is shown here in an 1841 watercolour by Captain [[Owen Stanley]] of ''Beagle''{{'}}s [[sister ship]] HMS ''Britomart''.
File:General Chart of Australia (Discoveries in Australia).jpg|1846 "General Chart of Australia", showing coasts examined by HMS ''Beagle'' during the third voyage in red, from [[John Lort Stokes]]' ''[[Discoveries in Australia]]''
</gallery>

==Final years==
In 1845, ''Beagle'' was refitted as a static [[Her Majesty's Coastguard|coastguard]] watch vessel like many similar watch ships stationed in rivers and harbours throughout the nation. She was transferred to [[HM Customs and Excise]] to control smuggling on the [[Essex]] coast in the navigable waterways beyond the north bank of the [[Thames Estuary]]. She was moored mid-river in the [[River Roach]] which forms part of an extensive maze of waterways and marshes known as The River Crouch and River Roach Tidal River System, located around and to the south and west of [[Burnham-on-Crouch]]. This large maritime area has a tidal coastline of {{cvt|243|km|mi}}, part of Essex's {{cvt|565|km|mi}} of coastline – the largest coastline in the United Kingdom. In 1851, [[oyster]] companies and traders who cultivated and harvested the "Walflete" or "Walfleet" oyster (''[[Ostrea edulis]]''), petitioned for the Customs and Excise watch vessel ''WV-7'' (ex HMS ''Beagle'') to be removed as she was obstructing the river and its oyster-beds. In the 1851 [[Navy List]] dated 25 May, it showed her renamed "Southend ''W.V. No. 7'' at Paglesham". In 1870, she was sold to "Messrs Murray and Trainer" to be broken up.

==Possible resting place==
[[File:Beagle_S_Punta Arenas_19-01-2018 (1).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Replica scale 1:1 of HMS ''Beagle'', Nao Victoria Museum, [[Punta Arenas]], Chile, 2018]]

Investigations started in 2000 by a team led by Robert Prescott of the [[University of St Andrews]] found documents confirming that ''"W.V. 7"'' was ''Beagle'', and noted a vessel matching her size shown midstream on the [[River Roach]] in Essex (in [[Paglesham]] Reach) on the 1847 hydrographic survey chart. A later chart showed a nearby indentation to the north bank of Paglesham Reach near the Eastend Wharf and near Waterside Farm. This could have been a dock for ''W.V. 7'' – ''Beagle''. Site investigations found an area of [[marsh]]y ground some {{cvt|15|ft|m}} deep on the tidal river-bank, about {{Convert|150|m|ft}} west of the boat-house. This discovery matched the chart position and many fragments of [[pottery]] of the correct period were found in the same area.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7819991.stm |title=Hunting the lost Beagle |newspaper=[[BBC News]] |date=9 January 2009 |access-date=14 February 2018 |last=Grange |first=Jeremy}} [https://www.google.com/maps/place/51%C2%B035'45.6%22N+0%C2%B048'49.2%22E/@51.5960103,0.8114793,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d51.5960073!4d0.8136677 Google Maps location]</ref>

Surveys in November 2003 showed that there are the remains of substantial material within the dock that could be parts of the ship itself.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-05-11 |title=19th-century dock, built to accommodate the HMS Beagle designated a scheduled monument |url=https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/05/19th-century-dock-built-to-accommodate-the-hms-beagle-designated-a-scheduled-monument/129024 |access-date=2021-07-24 |website=HeritageDaily – Archaeology News |language=en-US}}</ref> An old [[anchor]] of 1841 pattern was excavated. It was also found that the 1871 [[census]] recorded a new [[farmhouse]] in the name of William Murray and Thomas Rainer, leading to speculation that they were the 1870 purchasers of the ship, "Messrs Murray and Trainer". The farmhouse was demolished in the 1940s, but a nearby boathouse incorporated timbers matching [[Knee (construction)|knee timbers]] used in ''Beagle''. Two more large anchors similar to the one excavated from the ship's present location are known to have been found in neighbouring villages. It is believed that the ship carried four anchors.

Their investigations featured in a [[BBC]] [[television]] programme which showed how each watch ship would have accommodated seven coastguard officers, drawn from other areas to minimise collusion with the locals. Each officer had about three rooms to house his family, forming a small community. They would use small boats to intercept smugglers, and the investigators found a [[causeway]] giving access at low tide across the soft mud of the river bank. Apparently the next coastguard station along was ''Kangaroo'', a sister ship of ''Beagle''.

==See also==
{{Portal|United Kingdom|History}}
* ''[[Beagle 2]]'' – A British Mars space probe, lost on 25 December 2003, named after HMS ''Beagle''. It was photographed on the surface of Mars in 2015.
* [[European and American voyages of scientific exploration]]
* [[Museo Nao Victoria#HMS Beagle|Museo Nao Victoria § HMS ''Beagle'']], a full-scale replica of the vessel completed in 2016
* [[Ship's chronometer from HMS Beagle|Ship's chronometer from HMS ''Beagle'']]
* ''[[The Voyage of the Space Beagle]]'', a [[science fiction]] adventure novel by [[A. E. van Vogt]] loosely inspired by Darwin's voyage aboard HMS ''Beagle''

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Sources and references==
* {{Harvc |last=Browne |first=E. Janet |author-link=Janet Browne |last2=Neve |first2=Michael |c=Introduction |in=Darwin |year=1989 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Darwin |first=Charles |year=1839 |title=Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships ''Adventure'' and ''Beagle'' between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the ''Beagle''{{'s}} circumnavigation of the globe. Journal and remarks. 1832–1836. |location=London |publisher=Henry Colburn |volume=III |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F10.2&viewtype=text&pageseq=1}}
* {{Cite book |publication-date=1989 |last=Darwin |first=Charles |title=Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin's Journal of researches |location=London |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-043268-8 |year=1989}}. Abridged version of Darwin's ''Journal and Remarks''.
* {{cite book |last1=Desmond |first1=Adrian |author-link=Adrian Desmond |last2=Moore |first2=James |author2-link=James Moore (biographer) |year=1991 |title=Darwin |location=London |publisher=Michael Joseph, Penguin Group |isbn=978-0-7181-3430-3}}
* {{Cite journal |last=FitzRoy |first=Robert |author-link=Robert FitzRoy |year=1836 |title=''Sketch of the Surveying Voyages of his Majesty's Ships ''Adventure'' and ''Beagle, 1825–1836. Commanded by Captains P. P. King, P. Stokes, and R. Fitz-Roy, Royal Navy. (Communicated by John Barrow) |journal=Journal of the Geological Society of London |volume=6 |pages=311–343 |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=A73&pageseq=1 |access-date=14 May 2012}}
* {{Cite book |last=FitzRoy |first=Robert |author-link=Robert FitzRoy |year=1839 |title=Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships '''Adventure''' and '''Beagle''' between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the '''Beagle'''{{'s}} circumnavigation of the globe. Proceedings of the second expedition, 1831–36, under the command of Captain Robert Fitz-Roy, R.N. |location=London |publisher=Henry Colburn |volume=II |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F10.2&viewtype=text&pageseq=1}}
* {{Cite book |last=FitzRoy |first=Robert |year=1839a |title=Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships '''Adventure''' and '''Beagle''' between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the '''Beagle'''{{'s}} circumnavigation of the globe. Appendix to Volume II |location=London |publisher=Henry Colburn |volume=IIa |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F10.2a&viewtype=text&pageseq=1}}
* {{Cite book |last=King |first=P. P. |author-link=Phillip Parker King |year=1839 |editor-last=FitzRoy |editor-first=Robert |editor-link=Robert FitzRoy |title=Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships ''Adventure'' and ''Beagle'' between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the ''Beagle''{{'s}} circumnavigation of the globe. Proceedings of the first expedition, 1826–30, under the command of Captain P. Parker King, R.N., F.R.S. |location=London |publisher=Henry Colburn |volume=I |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F10.1&viewtype=text&pageseq=1}}
* [[Karl Heinz Marquardt|Marquardt, Karl]], ''HMS Beagle: Survey Ship Extraordinary'' [[Conway Maritime Press]], 2010.  {{isbn|9780851777030}}
* {{Cite book |first=John Lort |last=Stokes |author-link=John Lort Stokes |year=1846 |title=Discoveries in Australia |publisher=T. and W. Boone |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/discoveriesinaus00stok}}, [[s:Discoveries in Australia/Volume 1|Volume 1]], [[s:Discoveries in Australia/Volume 2|Volume 2]]
* {{cite book |first=James |last=Taylor |author-link=James Taylor (British author and historian) |title=Voyage of the Beagle: Darwin's Extraordinary Adventure in Fitzroy's Famous Survey Ship |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g7C-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT36 |year=2008 |publisher=[[Conway Publishing]], Anova Books |isbn=978-1-84486-066-1 |chapter=1: The Origin & Design of HMS ''Beagle''}}

==External links==
{{Commons+cat|HMS Beagle|HMS Beagle (ship, 1820)|HMS ''Beagle''}}
*[http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Freeman_JournalofResearches.html Darwin Online – bibliography]: ''Proceedings'' of the first and second expeditions, and Darwin's ''Journal'' (''The Voyage of the ''Beagle).
* {{Gutenberg author| id=485| name=Charles Darwin}} list includes ''The Voyage of the ''Beagle
* [[John Lort Stokes]], [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12115 ''Discoveries in Australia'', Volume 1], [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12146 Volume 2].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110606103416/http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/data/corral/ships/beagle.html Digitised copies of the original logs of HMS ''Beagle''], [http://badc.nerc.ac.uk British Atmospheric Data Centre]/[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] as part of the CORRAL project
* [[Robert FitzRoy]], 1836, [http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=A73&viewtype=image&pageseq=1 ''Sketch of the Surveying Voyages of his Majesty's Ships ''Adventure'' and ''Beagle'', 1825–1836. Commanded by Captains P. P. King, P. Stokes, and R. Fitz-Roy, Royal Navy'']. ''Journal of the Geological Society of London'' 6: 311–343
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050214084128/http://www.caphorniers.cl/Fitz%20Roy/relato%20ing/testimony01.htm Visit and Testimony of Captain Fitz-Roy]
* http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConFactFile.64/HMS-Beagle.html HMS ''Beagle'' – Port Cities] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927002044/http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConFactFile.64/HMS-Beagle.html |date=27 September 2013 }})
* [http://www.antique-horology.org/_editorial/sympiezometerfontijn/ The sympiesometer of Alexander Adie]
* [http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/covingto/chap_1.htm The Journal of Syms Covington – Chapter 1.]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3490564.stm BBC News – Darwin's ''Beagle'' ship 'found']
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1148523,00.html ''The Observer'' – Evolution of radar points to HMS ''Beagle''′s resting place.]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/5190734.stm BBC News – Plans to build HMS ''Beagle'' replica for 2009 Darwin bicentenary.]
* [http://construyendoelhmsbeagle.blogspot.com/ Former official blog of the building process for the full size HMS ''Beagle'' replica.]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beagle, Hms}}
[[Category:HMS Beagle| ]]
[[Category:1820 ships]]
[[Category:Brig-sloops of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Charles Darwin]]
[[Category:Cherokee-class brig-sloops]]
[[Category:Exploration of Western Australia]]
[[Category:Exploration ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Individual sailing vessels]]
[[Category:Maritime exploration of Australia]]
[[Category:Ships built in Woolwich]]