HMS Beagle — Darwin's Survey Ship Model, Handcrafted Wood | Admiral Line

The small survey brig that carried Charles Darwin around the world and changed how we understand life on it.

Built plank on frame from scratch in western red cedar, rosewood and mahogany. Hundreds of hours per hull, then a full quality inspection before it ships. Arrives fully assembled.

Construction

• Traditional plank-on-frame hull, laid one plank at a time over a wooden frame
• Hand-knotted rigging across bowsprit and three masts
• Hand-stitched linen sails on every yard
• Deck detail: ship's boats, capstan, wheel, hatches and fittings
• Metal anchors and wooden rudder
• Solid wood base and engraved brass nameplate

The voyage

A 90-foot Cherokee-class brig launched in 1820, Beagle was rerigged as a barque and sent to survey the coasts of South America. She left Plymouth on 27 December 1831 under Robert FitzRoy with a 22-year-old naturalist aboard who had been invited largely as the captain's dinner companion. Five years later Darwin came home with the finches, the tortoises and the fossil mammals that would become On the Origin of Species.

For a study, a library or a laboratory office, few ships carry more weight.