HMS Beagle

HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10 gun brig of the Royal Navy, named after the Beagle breed of dog.

First Voyage

On 27 September 1825 Beagle docked at Woolwich for repairs and fitted out for her new duties at a total cost of £5,913. Her guns were reduced from ten cannons to six and a mizzenmast was added to improve her manoeuvrability, thereby changing her from a brig to a bark (or barque).

Related Topics:
27 September - 1825 - Brig - Bark

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Beagle set sail on 22 May 1826 for her first voyage, under the command of Captain Pringle Stokes. The mission was to accompany the larger ship HMS Adventure (380 tons) on a hydrographic survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, under the overall command of the Australian Captain Philip Parker King.

Related Topics:
22 May - 1826 - HMS ''Adventure'' - Hydrographic - Patagonia - Tierra del Fuego - Philip Parker King

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Faced with the more difficult part of the survey in the desolate waters of Tierra del Fuego, Captain Pringle Stokes fell into a deep depression. At Port Famine on the Beagle Channel he locked himself in his cabin for 14 days, then (in August 1828) shot himself and died in delirium 11 days later. Captain Parker King then replaced Stokes with the Executive Officer of the Beagle, Lieutenant W.G. Skyring. They sailed to Rio de Janeiro where on 15 December 1828 Rear Admiral Sir Robert Otway, commander in chief of the South American station aboard HMS Ganges, named as (temporary) Captain of the Beagle his aide, Flag Lieutenant Robert FitzRoy.

Related Topics:
Tierra del Fuego - Port Famine - Beagle Channel - 1828 - Rio de Janeiro - 15 December - Robert Otway - HMS ''Ganges'' - Robert FitzRoy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The 23 year old aristocrat FitzRoy proved an able commander and meticulous surveyor. In one incident a group of Fuegians stole a ships 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 the Beagle returned to Plymouth, England on 14 October 1830.

Related Topics:
Jemmy Button - Plymouth - 14 October - 1830

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~