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HMS BEAGLE
model
The
ship that brought Darwin to his most important
discoveries
The HMS Beagle was famous Darwin's expedition
ship. She was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich
Dockyard on the River Thames. The ship took part
in celebrations of the coronation of King George
IV of the United Kingdom, during which she
became the first fully rigged
man-of-war
to pass under the old London Bridge.
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In 1825,
the HMS Beagle was converted to a bark by the
addition of a small mizzenmast, a forecastle,
and a large poop cabin. For her first commission
(1826–30), she was sent on a voyage to survey
the coasts of South America.
On the second
voyage (1831–36), HMS Beagle had Darwin as
naturalist. A total of 10 officers, 4 midshipmen
and volunteers, 38 seamen and boys, 8 marines,
and 8 supernumeraries (including Darwin) on
board. She was so crowded that Darwin had to
sleep in a hammock slung above the drafting
table in the poop cabin. A goal of the voyage
was to obtain a complete circle of measurements
of longitude, a feat requiring the use of 22
chronometers and accomplished within only 33
seconds of error.
On
January 16, 1832, HMS Beagle arrived at the Cape Verde Islands
and anchored on the island of Santiago.
It was on Santiago that Darwin made his first
discovery. He found a horizontal white
band of shells within a cliff face along a
shoreline. The fact that this layer was forty-five
feet above sea level raised some questions for
Darwin. This observation, and many similar others,
would later lead Darwin to develop his own theory of
raising continents and sinking ocean floors.
Darwin collected and made
detailed observations of plants and animals, with
results that shook his belief that species were
fixed. He kept a diary of his experiences, and
rewrote this as the book titled Journal and Remarks,
published in 1839. This travelogue and scientific
journal became widely popular, and was reprinted
many times with various titles, becoming known as
The Voyage of the HMS Beagle.
HMS Beagle sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, and
then carried out detailed hydrographic surveys
around the coasts of the southern part of South
America, returning via Tahiti and Australia after
having circumnavigated the Earth. While the
expedition was originally planned to last two years,
it lasted almost five.
In 1833, Beagle
and two other ships helped the British to take
control of the Falkland Islands from the
Argentines.
During the ship’s third voyage (1837–43), the
first full surveys of the coasts
of Australia was accomplished.
In 1845, HMS
Beagle was stripped of its masts and used by the
Coast Guard Service as a watch station against
smugglers. She was sold for scrap in 1870. Some
of her timbers may still lie in the Thames
estuary.
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About the construction of the
HMS
Beagle model:
- Built from scratch,
Plank-on-frame
construction
-
Copper-plated bottom:
real individual copper pieces (no fake lines.)
- Authentic extensive rigging system comprised of many
different sizes of rope and features numerous blocks and
deadeyes.
- Boats are crafted individually from wood. They are
not made from plastic mold.
- Sails: some are furled for
you and your guests to enjoy the beautiful deck
features.
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41" long x 31" tall x
11.5" wide $4,575
Shipping
and insurance in the
contiguous USA included.
Other countries $600 flat rate.
This
model is in stock and will be shipped within 5 business
days.
Learn more about the HMS
Beagle here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Beagle
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