 HMSBeagle in theStraits of Magellan in front of the toweringMonte Sarmiento, a reproduction ofR. T. Pritchett's frontispiece from the 1890 illustrated edition ofThe Voyage of the Beagle | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Ordered | 16 February 1817 |
| Cost | £7,803 |
| Laid down | June 1818 |
| Launched | 11 May 1820 |
| Commissioned | 1820 |
| Decommissioned | 1845, transferred to Coastguard |
| Fate | Sold and broken up 1870; also possibly resting atPaglesham East End,Rochford Rural District, Essex (51°35′45″N00°48′49″E / 51.59583°N 0.81361°E /51.59583; 0.81361) |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Cherokee-classbrig-sloop |
| Tons burthen | 235bm; 242 for second voyage[1] |
| Length | 90.3 ft (27.5 m) |
| Beam | 24.5 ft (7.5 m) |
| Draught | 12.5 ft (3.8 m) |
| Sail plan | Brig (barque from 1825) |
| Complement | 120 as a ship-of-war, 65 plus 9 supernumeraries on second voyage |
| Armament | 10 guns, reduced to 6 guns for first survey voyage, changed to 7 guns during second survey voyage |
HMSBeagle was aCherokee-class 10-gunbrig-sloop of theRoyal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803, waslaunched on 11 May 1820 from theWoolwich Dockyard on theRiver Thames. Later reports say the ship took part in celebrations of thecoronation of George IV, passing under the oldLondon Bridge, and was the first riggedman-of-war afloat upriver of the bridge.[2][3] There was no immediate need forBeagle, so she "lay in ordinary", moored afloat but without masts or rigging. She was then adapted as a surveybarque and took part in three survey expeditions.
Thesecond voyage of HMSBeagle is notable for carrying the recently graduated naturalistCharles 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 asThe Voyage of the Beagle, and his findings played a pivotal role in the formation of his scientific theories onevolution andnatural selection.[4][5]
TheCherokee class of 10-gunbrig-sloops was designed by Sir Henry Peake in 1807, and eventually over 100 were constructed. The working drawings for HMSBeagle and HMSBarracouta were issued to theWoolwich 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 6 inches (15 cm) at the stem to 4 inches (10 cm) at the stern.Beagle'skeel waslaid in June 1818, construction cost £7,803, and the ship waslaunched on 11 May 1820.[2]
The first reported task of the ship was a part in celebrations of the coronation of KingGeorge IV;[2] in his 1846Journal,John Lort Stokes said that the ship was taken up theRiver Thames to salute the coronation, passing through the oldLondon Bridge, and was the first riggedman-of-war afloat upriver of the bridge.[3][6]
CaptainPringle Stokes was appointed captain ofBeagle on 7 September 1825, and the ship was allocated to the surveying section of theHydrographic Office. On 27 September 1825The Beagle docked at Woolwich to be repaired and fitted out for her new duties. Her guns were reduced from ten cannon to six and amizzen mast was added to improve her handling, thereby changing her from abrig to abark (or barque).[7]
The Beagle set sail fromPlymouth on 22 May 1826 on her first voyage, under the command of Captain Stokes. The mission was to accompany the larger shipHMSAdventure (380 tons) on ahydrographic survey ofPatagonia andTierra del Fuego, under the overall command of the Australian CaptainPhillip Parker King,commander and surveyor.[8][9]
On 3 March 1827, in theBarbara Channel, theBeagle encountered a boat with survivors of the sealerPrince of Saxe Coburg, which had wrecked inCockburn Channel on 16 December 1826. Stokes sent two launches to rescue the other survivors who were encamped there.[10]
Faced with the more difficult part of the survey in the desolate waters of Tierra del Fuego, Captain Stokes fell into a deep depression. AtPort Famine on theStrait 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.[11][12] Captain Parker King then replaced Stokes with the First Lieutenant ofBeagle, Lieutenant William George Skyring as commander, and both ships sailed toMontevideo. On 13 October, King sailedAdventure toRio de Janeiro for refitting and provisions. During this work Rear Admiral SirRobert Otway, commander in chief of theSouth American station, arrived aboardHMS Ganges and announced his decision thatBeagle was also to be brought to Montevideo for repairs, and that he intended to supersede Skyring. WhenBeagle arrived, Otway put the ship under the command of his aide, Flag LieutenantRobert FitzRoy.[13]
The 23-year-old aristocrat FitzRoy proved an able commander and meticulous surveyor. In one incident a group ofFuegians 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 ofJemmy Button, and these four native Fuegians were taken back with them whenBeagle returned to England on 14 October 1830. During their brief sojourn in England, Boat Memory, the most promising of the four, died of smallpox.[14]
During this survey, theBeagle Channel was identified and named after the ship.[15]
The log book from the first voyage, in Captain FitzRoy's handwriting, was acquired at auction atSotheby's by theMuseo Naval de la Nación (under the administration of theArgentine Navy) located inTigre, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, where it is now preserved.[16]
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 ofHMS Chanticleer to go to Tierra del Fuego, but due to her poor conditionBeagle was substituted for the voyage. FitzRoy was re-appointed as commander on 27 June 1831 andBeagle wascommissioned on 4 July 1831 under his command, with LieutenantsJohn Clements Wickham andBartholomew James Sulivan.[17]
Beagle was immediately taken into dock atDevonport for extensive rebuilding and refitting. As she required a new deck, FitzRoy had the upper-deck raised considerably, by 8 inches (200 mm) aft and 12 inches (300 mm) forward. TheCherokee-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 madeBeagle 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 thegunwales. Additional sheathing added to the hull added about seven tons to herburthen and perhaps fifteen to her displacement.[1][18]
The ship was one of the first to be fitted with thelightning conductor invented by the English scientistWilliam Snow Harris. FitzRoy spared no expense in her fitting out, which included22 chronometers,[1][4] and five examples of theSympiesometer, a kind ofmercury-freebarometer patented byAlexander Adie which was favoured by FitzRoy as giving the accurate readings required by theAdmiralty.[19] 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 reachedRio 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.)[20][21]
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."[22] Command in that era could involve stress and loneliness, as shown by the suicide of Captain Stokes, and FitzRoy's own uncleViscount Castlereagh had committed suicide under stress of overwork.[23] His attempts to get a friend to accompany him fell through, and he asked his friend and superior CaptainFrancis Beaufort to seek a gentlemannaturalist as a self-financing passenger who would give him company during the voyage. A sequence of inquiries led toCharles Darwin, a young gentleman on his way to becoming a rural clergyman, joining the voyage.[24] FitzRoy was influenced by thephysiognomy ofLavater, 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."[25][26]
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 ofPlymouth Sound.[27]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), toFalmouth, Cornwall, England, on 2 October 1836.[28]
Darwin had kept a diary of his experiences, and combined this with details from his scientific notes as the book titledJournal 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 asThe Voyage of the Beagle.[29]Darwin 1989, pp. 2–3, 24
In the six months after returning from the second voyage, some light repairs were made andBeagle was commissioned to survey large parts of the coast of Australia under the command of CommanderJohn Clements Wickham, who had been a lieutenant on the second voyage, with assistant surveyor LieutenantJohn Lort Stokes who had been a midshipman on the first voyage ofBeagle, then mate and assistant surveyor on the second voyage (no relation to Pringle Stokes). They left Woolwich on 9 June 1837, towed by HM SteamerBoxer, and after reaching Plymouth spent the remainder of the month adjusting their instruments.[18] They set off from Plymouth Sound on the morning of 5 July 1837, and sailed south with stops for observations atTenerife,Bahia andCape Town.[30]
They reached theSwan River (modernPerth, Western Australia) on 15 November 1837.[31] Their survey started with the western coast between there and theFitzroy River, Western Australia, then surveyed both shores of theBass Strait at the southeast corner of the continent. To aidBeagle in her surveying operations in Bass Strait, the ColonialcutterVansittart, of Van Diemen's Land, was loaned by SirJohn Franklin, Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land, and placed under the command of MrCharles Codrington Forsyth, the senior mate, assisted by Mr Pasco, another of her mates. In May 1839, they sailed north to survey the shores of theArafura Sea oppositeTimor. 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 theGulf of Carpentaria revealed two major rivers, theAlbert River and theFlinders River.[32]
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 namedPort 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.[33] A settlement there became the town of Palmerston in 1869, and was renamedDarwin in 1911 (not to be confused with the present day city ofPalmerston near Darwin).[34]
During this survey, theBeagle Gulf was named after the ship.[35]
Nicotiana benthamiana, a species oftobacco used from the 1990s as a platform for the production ofrecombinant pharmaceutical proteins, was first collected for scientific study on the north coast of Australia by Benjamin Bynoe during this voyage.[36]
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In 1845,Beagle was refitted as a staticcoastguard watch vessel like many similar watch ships stationed in rivers and harbours throughout the nation. She was transferred toHM Customs and Excise to control smuggling on theEssex coast in the navigable waterways beyond the north bank of theThames Estuary. She was moored mid-river in theRiver 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 ofBurnham-on-Crouch. This large maritime area has a tidal coastline of 243 km (151 mi), part of Essex's 565 km (351 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 vesselWV-7 (ex HMSBeagle) to be removed as she was obstructing the river and its oyster-beds. In the 1851Navy List dated 25 May, it showed her renamed "SouthendW.V. No. 7 at Paglesham". In 1870, she was sold to "Messrs Murray and Trainer" to be broken up.
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Investigations started in 2000 by a team led by Robert Prescott of theUniversity of St Andrews found documents confirming that"W.V. 7" wasBeagle, and noted a vessel matching her size shown midstream on theRiver Roach in Essex (inPaglesham 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 forW.V. 7 –Beagle. Site investigations found an area ofmarshy ground some 15 ft (4.6 m) deep on the tidal river-bank, about 150 metres (490 ft) west of the boat-house. This discovery matched the chart position and many fragments ofpottery of the correct period were found in the same area.[37]
Surveys in November 2003 showed that there are the remains of substantial material within the dock that could be parts of the ship itself.[38] An oldanchor of 1841 pattern was excavated. It was also found that the 1871census recorded a newfarmhouse 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 matchingknee timbers used inBeagle. 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 aBBCtelevision 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 acauseway giving access at low tide across the soft mud of the river bank. Apparently the next coastguard station along wasKangaroo, a sister ship ofBeagle.
King was born on Norfolk Island and left for England in 1796.
Captain Wickham named the Beagle Gulf, and Port Darwin in what is now Australia's Northern Territory
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