H.M.S. Beagle Pin

HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. There was no immediate need for Beagle so she "lay in ordinary", moored afloat but without masts or rigging. She was then adapted as a survey barque and took part in three survey expeditions. One of theses voyages was the second voyage of HMS Beagle, which was notable for carrying the recently graduated naturalist Charles Darwin around the world.