Darwin replica ship plan unveiled

I was delighted to read that a £5 million project has been launched to rebuild MMS Beagle, pictured below, the ship which Shrewsbury’s Charles Darwin made famous on his epic round the world journey.

Organisers hope the ship will set sail from England by December 2013 travelling the same route as Darwin did in 1831.

The £5 million project, which is hoping to use the same materials as the first Beagle, will cost considerably more than the original price of £7,803 to build the ship.

Twenty-two-year-old Darwin left The Lion Hotel on Monday, September 5, 1831, by stagecoach to London to see Captain Robert FitzRoy about the job as ship naturalist.

Charles accepted the position and was told to report to Plymouth in time for the sailing date of October 10, although the ship didn’t eventually leave until 11am on Tuesday, December 27.

The journey, which was due to last two years, in fact, took four years, nine months and five days, led to Darwin writing his book on evolution,  On The Origin of Species.

The ship called at the Canary Islands, the Cape Verde Islands, Brazil, Uruguay, Tierra del Fuego, and the Falkland Islands, before reaching the Galapagos Islands on September 16, 1835.

He then travelled on to Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa and returning up the Atlantic, docking at Falmouth on October 2, 1836 where he caught the stagecoach to Shrewsbury.

He arrived so late in the evening, it is believed he spent the night at The Lion before arriving at his home for breakfast to a surprised but delighted family at the family home at The Mount, Shrewsbury.

With no surviving plans for the original HMS Beagle, the rebuild by German firm Detlev Loell and Partners will be based on knowledge of the general vessel class, recollections and drawings from the crew recollections, and records of purchases and refit works.

Organisers hope to relay satellite images to pupils during the trip and afterwards open up the ship to paying customers and schools.

For more details of the project see www.hmsbeagleproject.org and to read more about Darwin’s link to The Lion Hotel email John@jbutterworth.plus.com to buy a signed copy of Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel for £6 including postage within the UK.