1807 Sir Henry Peake, surveyor of the Navy [1806-22] designed a
235 ton Brig Sloop, armed with ten cannons, eight short-range
and two long range guns. More than one hundred were built to
this design during the course of the next thirty years of which
the Beagle became the forty fifth. Their main roles in life were
for coastal defence, anti-piracy or smuggling duties, surveying,
intelligence gathering and communications work.In 1817 The Beagle was ordered as one of a group of
twelve to be built. Her
keel was laid at Woolwich Dockyard in June 1818.Her measurements were 90 ft.
of HMS Beagle
x 24 ft.6 ins. beam with a draught of 12 ft. She was launched in
on May 11th 1820 and cost £7,803. The Beagle took
part in the Review of the Fleet on the coronation of George IV
in 1820 and had the distinction of being the first man-of-war to
sail under the Old London Bridge.
At this time The
Hydrographic Office, with it’s survey ships and personnel, had
the task of providing up to date information on tides, reefs,
inlets, depth of ocean floors, and new coast lines etc, as safe
sailing instructions for guardians of the British Empire, the
Royal Navy and British merchant ships.
1825, FIRST COMMISSION: Under
Commander Pringel Stokes.Docked
at Woolwich for repairs and fitted out for her new duties.
Reduced her guns from ten cannons to six, deck raised by 18
inches and her rig changed from Brig.sloop to Barque by the
addition of a mizzen mast. The mizzen made her easier to handle
under sail and the raised deck increased the space below.
Orders came from the Admiralty as follows: “An accurate survey
is to be made of the Southern Coasts of South America, from the
southern entrance of the Rio de la Plata round to Chiloe Island,
and of Tierra del Fuego in such manner as the season may induce
you to adopt”.This
survey took nearly three and half years. OnAugust 1st 1828 the exhausted and depressed captain,
Cmdr. Pringle Stokes, committed suicide by shooting himself.He was buried at Port Famine.First Lieutent Skyring took interim command.
1828, SECOND COMMISSION:Commander-in-chief of the South American Station, Admiral
Sir Robert Otway, commissioned Commander Robert FitzRoy to take
charge of the Beagle for a new survey. The Beagle carried a
total of seven boats, a 26ft yawl, and a 23ft cutter. These were
shipped on deck, one on top of the other midships between
mainmast and foremast, two 28ft whalers which were upside down
on skid beams between mizzen and mainmast, two 25ft whalers hung
in davits adjacent to the mizzen, and finally a jollyboat
[dinghy] in horn davits astern. These boats were the eyes and
ears, the essential tools, of a survey ship and did most of the
inshore work. Returned to Plymouth. 27th Oct. 1830.
1831, THIRD COMMISSION: Commander
Robert FitzRoy was re-appointedand partly paid for a refit.It was standard naval practice to combine hydrographic
work with general scientific observations on land and to collect
rare or unknown flora, fauna and geological species for the
betterment of scientific knowledge.
After returning from his first commandFitzRoy made a pledge: …”if I ever left England again
on a similar expedition, I would endeavour to take a person qualified
to examine the land, while the officers and myself attend to
September 5th 1831 Charles Darwin met Robert FitzRoy and was
accepted by the latter as an unpaid naturalist. This twenty two
year old Bachelor of Arts with studies in medicine and religion
and an intense interest
in natural history would embark on a journey to study the
natural history of all countries visited. This journey took in
most of South America, the Falkland Islands, the Galapagos
Islands, Tahiti, Bay of Islands, near New Zealand, the southern
coastline of Australia, Cocos Islands, Mauritius, Simons Bay,
near the Cape of Good Hope, St.Helena, the Ascension Islands,
then back across the Atlantic to Bahia in Brazil and finally the
Cape Verde Islands. 76 personnel were aboard her 90 foot hull
when she sailed for South America.
a voyage around the world lasting four and three-quarter years,
HMS Beagle arrived again in England on October2nd 1836 and anchored at Falmouth. During the following
weeks The Beagle travelled to Plymouth and Portsmouth, arriving
at Greenwich, on October 28th.
1837, FOURTH COMMISSION: Commander John Clement Wickham, and the
FIFTH COMMISSION: Commander John Lort Stokes took the Beagle to
Australia for the next five and a half years, in which time by
tedious work the officers and men eradicated all the blank spots
from Australia’s coastline not filled in by previous
After more than six years of absence she arrived at Spithead on
Paid off at Woolwich Dockyard on Oct 14th.The captain, Commander John Lort Stokes, left HMS Beagle
at the same place he had first stepped on to the ship’s deck
as a young midshipman eighteen years before.
October 20th 1843 Beagle sent to Sheerness Dockyard
where after eighteen months she was sold to the coastguard
authority and fitted out as a watch vessel i.e. floating police
11th July 1845. Left Sheerness
for Paglesham on the River Roach to be stationed at the mouth of
the river.For her
stationary duties her upper masts were dismantled and taken
away. In 1850 she was removed from the mouth of the river and
moored at Paglesham. Where she spent the last twenty years of
her life and remained a watch vessel at least until 1863. In
1870 she was sold to Murray & Trainer for the sum of £525
to be broken up.