Contents

HMS Beagle (1854)

An image of HMS Beagle and WranglerbySir Oswald Brierly, 1855
History
United Kingdom
Name	Beagle
Ordered	10 April 1854
Builder	C J Mare & Company, Leamouth, London
Cost	£23,091 (Hull: £8,302 Machinery: £9,725)[1]
Laid down	15 April 1854
Launched	20 July 1854
Commissioned	3 September 1854[1]
Fate	Sold to the Satsuma Domain in 1863
Japan
Name	Kenko (乾行)
Acquired	1863
Fate	Broken up in 1889
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Arrow-class gunvessel
Displacement	586 tons
Tons burthen	476 68⁄94 bm
Length	160 ft (48.8 m)
Beam	25 ft (7.6 m)
Draught	11 ft 8 in (3.6 m) (aft)
Depth of hold	13 ft 3 in (4.0 m)
Installed power	160 nhp
Propulsion	2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine Single screw
Sail plan	Barque-rigged
Complement	65
Armament	2 × 68-pounder (95 cwt) Lancaster MLR on pivots 4 × 32-pounder (25 cwt) guns[1]

HMS Beagle was a wooden-hulled Arrow-class 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[edit]

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.^[1] Two further designs of Crimean War gunvessel were ordered during 1855, the Intrepid class and the Vigilant class. The class was built as despatch vessels, but in 1856 were re-designated as second-class gunvessels.

Propulsion[edit]

A two-cylinder horizontal single expansion steam engine supplied by Humphrys, Tennant and Dykes provided 160 horsepower (119 kW) through a single screw.^[1]

Sail plan[edit]

All Arrow-class gunvessels were barque-rigged.^[1]

Armament[edit]

The Arrow class were provided with two 68-pounder Lancaster muzzle-loading rifled guns weighing 95 long cwt (4,800 kg) on pivot mounts, and four 32-pounder 25 long cwt (1,300 kg) guns.

Construction and career[edit]

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.^[1]

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Lengerer, Hans (2020). "The Kanghwa Affair and Treaty: A Contribution to the Pre-History of the Chinese–Japanese War of 1894–1895". Warship International. LVII (2). International Naval Research Organization: 110–131. ISSN 0043-0374.
• Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.