Today Is May 11

The HMS Beagle was a 242 ton, 10 gun, 90 ft long ship. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803, was launched on May 11, 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames.

Beagle during the survey of Tierra del Fuego, painted by Conrad Martens

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

It's second voyage was Charles Darwin's famous 1831-36 voyage to the Pacific. Darwin took part in the expedition as a self-financing gentleman naturalist and companion to the captain. The Beagle departed from Devonport on December 27, 1831 with 74 on board.

Charles Darwin wrote his account of his five-year voyage on the Beagle to the Pacific, during which he shared a cabin with Robert Fitzroy, the commander of the Beagle. His account attracted no interest at all. However he was lionized on his return to London from the Beagle as a brilliant geologist.