What did HMS Beagle achieve on its famous voyages?

HMS Beagle was a Royal Navy brig-sloop launched in 1820 that later became famous for carrying naturalist Charles Darwin on its second survey expedition. Initially laid up in ordinary without masts, the ship was adapted as a survey barque and completed three major expeditions. Darwin's extensive land explorations and fossil collections during the nearly five-year second voyage directly inspired his developing theories on evolution and natural selection.

What we know

• HMS Beagle was launched on May 11, 1820, from the Woolwich Dockyard as a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. [2]
• The second survey expedition of HMS Beagle lasted nearly five years, running from December 27, 1831, to October 2, 1836. [3, 5]
• Charles Darwin spent three years and three months exploring on land and 18 months at sea during the voyage. [3, 5]
• HMS Beagle carried a total of at least 34 recorded chronometers across its three main survey voyages. [4]

Where to go next

• what caused itHow did the voyage shape Darwin's evolutionary theory?
• what followedWhat was the publication history of The Voyage of the Beagle?
• how it workedHow did marine chronometers aid nineteenth-century naval hydrography?
• how we knowWhat fossils did Darwin discover at Punta Alta?
• the bigger pictureWhat defines a Cherokee-class brig-sloop?
• an unexpected connectionHow did a ship's navigation instrument end up in a museum highlights series?A nautical chronometer from the Beagle survived to become the subject of an episode in the BBC series A History of the World in 100 Objects.

Sources

• [1]Q35926 (Wikidata Q35926) · CC0 1.0
• [2]HMS Beagle · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]The Voyage of the Beagle · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Ship's chronometer from HMS Beagle · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Second voyage of HMS Beagle · CC BY-SA 4.0