HMS Beagle (1804)
HMS Recruit, a warship of the same class as the Beagle
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Beagle |
| Namesake: | The Beagle breed of dog |
| Ordered: | 22 May 1804 |
| Builder: | Perry, Wells & Green, Blackwall Yard |
| Laid down: | June 1804 |
| Launched: | 8 August 1804 |
| Completed: | By 7 October 1804 |
| Commissioned: | 1804 |
| Out of service: | 1813 |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Sold on 21 July 1814 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop |
| Tons burthen: | 382 82⁄94 bm |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 30 ft 6 1⁄4 in (9.3 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 12 ft 10 1⁄2 in (3.92 m) |
| Sail plan: | Brig rigged |
| Complement: | 121 |
| Armament: | 18 guns:16 × 32-pounder carronades + 2 × 6-pounder bow guns |
HMS Beagle was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1804, during the Napoleonic Wars. She played a major role in the Battle of the Basque Roads. Beagle was laid up in ordinary in 1813 and sold in 1814.
Beagle was commissioned in August 1804 under Commander John Burn, who sailed her to the Mediterranean. On 5 December Burn and Beagle captured the Spanish ship Fuenta Hermosa. Burn was temporarily relieved by Commander George Digby between June and August 1805, after which she joined Sir John Orde’s squadron off Cadiz.
On 14 January 1805, Beagle captured the Spanish ship Pastora Hermosa, which was carrying bullion.
Commander Francis Newcombe left the hired armed ship Lord Eldon to replace Burn in February 1806; Beagle remained in the Mediterranean until 1807. On 27 April 1806, Beagle and a number of other vessels were in company with Termagant when Termagant captured the Anna Maria Carolina.Beagle then moved to the Downs where she operated between 1808 and 1809.
While under Newcombe's command Beagle captured three privateers in the English Channel. She captured the Hazard, of 14 guns and 49 men, on 2 October 1808, the Vengeur, of 16 guns and 48 men, on 24 January 1809 and the Fortune, of 14 guns and 58 men, on 18 February.
Beagle arrived at Basque Roads on 10 April, having escorted from the Downs the convoy of fireships that were to attack the French anchorage the next day.Beagle was the second ship (after the bomb vessel Aetna) to voluntarily arrive to aid Cochrane's Imperieuse after the successful fireship attack, her crew reportedly giving Cochrane three cheers upon arriving. The prize crew that took possession, and later burnt, the French ship-of-the-line Calcutta, was under the command of a lieutenant from Beagle and a midshipman from Imperieuse. Beagle also took part in the bombardment of the French ships Aquilon and Ville de Varsovie, skilfully manoeuvring to fire, unlike other British ships that were anchoring to engage.
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