HMS Beagle (1854)
{{short description|Royal Navy Arrow-class gunvessel (1854–1863)}}
{{other ships|List of ships named HMS Beagle}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:HMS Beagle (1854).jpg |Ship caption=An image of HMS Beagle and Wrangler by Sir Oswald Brierly, 1855 }} {{Infobox ship career |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=Beagle |Ship ordered=10 April 1854 |Ship builder=C J Mare & Company, Leamouth, London |Ship original cost=*£23,091 |Ship laid down=15 April 1854 |Ship launched=20 July 1854 |Ship commissioned=3 September 1854Winfield (2004), p.219 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Sold to the Satsuma Domain in 1863 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=Japan |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|naval}} |Ship name=Kenko (乾行) |Ship acquired=1863 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Broken up in 1889 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Ship class={{sclass|Arrow|gunvessel}} |Ship tons burthen=476 {{frac|68|94}} bm |Ship displacement=586 tons |Ship length={{convert|160|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} |Ship beam={{convert|25|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} |Ship hold depth={{convert|13|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on|1}} |Ship draught={{convert|11|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on|1}} (aft) |Ship power=160 nhp |Ship propulsion=
|Ship sail plan=Barque-rigged |Ship speed= |Ship complement=65 |Ship sensors= |Ship armament=
|Ship armour= |Ship notes= }} |
HMS Beagle was a wooden-hulled {{sclass|Arrow|gunvessel|0}} second-class screw gunvessel launched in 1854 and sold in 1863. She was the third vessel of the Royal Navy to use the name.
Design
The Crimean War sparked a sudden need for shallow-draught, manoeuvrable vessels for inshore work in the Baltic and the Black Sea. The Arrow class of six wooden-hulled screw steamers were built during 1854 to a design by the Surveyor's Department. Construction was undertaken at two commercial yards on the Thames, R & H Green and C J Mare & Company, both of Leamouth, London. Two further designs of Crimean War gunvessel were ordered during 1855, the {{sclass|Intrepid|gunvessel|4}} and the {{sclass|Vigilant|gunvessel|4}}. The class was built as despatch vessels, but in 1856 were re-designated as second-class gunvessels.
=Propulsion=
A two-cylinder horizontal single expansion steam engine supplied by Humphrys, Tennant and Dykes provided {{convert|160|hp|0}} through a single screw.
=Sail plan=
All Arrow-class gunvessels were barque-rigged.
=Armament=
The Arrow class were provided with two 68-pounder Lancaster muzzle-loading rifled guns weighing {{convert|95|long cwt|kg|abbr=on}} on pivot mounts, and four 32-pounder {{convert|25|long cwt|kg|abbr=on}} guns.
Construction and career
Beagle was laid down at the Leamouth yard of C J Mare & Company on 15 April 1854 and launched on 20 July the same year. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy two months later on 3 September.
Beagle took part in the Crimean War from 1854 to 1856. During the Crimean War, two of her ship's company were awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for their actions: Joseph Trewavas was awarded the VC for his actions in the Sea of Azov, and an acting-mate in Beagle, William Hewett, was awarded the VC for his actions in defending a shore battery.{{London Gazette |issue=21971 |date=1857-02-24 |page=652 }}
File:Kinburn, The 'Curacoa' and 'Tribune' steam-frigates, and 'Beagle' gun-boat, in the ice - ILN 1856.jpg, shortly after the Battle of Kinburn in December 1855. Illustrated London News]]
Beagle was sold to the Satsuma Domain (薩摩藩) of Japan at Hong Kong in 1863 to be used as a training vessel, and was renamed Kenko (乾行) in 1865. She was broken up in 1889.{{cite web |url=http://www.aboutdarwin.com/literature/Beagles.html |title=How the ship, HMS Beagle, got her name. |publisher=AboutDarwin |accessdate=2008-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322223859/http://www.aboutdarwin.com/literature/Beagles.html |archive-date=22 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|last1=Jentschura|first1=Hansgeorg|first2=Dieter|last2=Jung|first3=Peter|last3= Mickel|year=1977|title=Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945|publisher=United States Naval Institute|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=0-87021-893-X|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite journal |last1=Lengerer |first1=Hans |title=The Kanghwa Affair and Treaty: A Contribution to the Pre-History of the Chinese–Japanese War of 1894–1895|journal=Warship International |date=2020 |volume=LVII |issue=2 |pages=110–131|publisher=International Naval Research Organization |issn=0043-0374}}
- {{winfield}}
{{Arrow class gunvessels}}
{{IJNFoundation}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beagle (1854}}
Category:Arrow-class gunvessels
Category:Ships built in Leamouth
Category:Victorian-era gunboats of the United Kingdom