Approximately how many miles did the HMS Beagle travel during its voyage?

HMS Beagle traveled approximately 40,000 miles during its celebrated second voyage around the world. The expedition began on 27 December 1831 and ended when the ship returned to England on 2 October 1836, lasting nearly five years.

Captain Robert FitzRoy commanded the voyage, which was officially intended to survey the coasts of South America and improve navigational charts. Charles Darwin joined as the ship’s unpaid naturalist and gentleman companion to FitzRoy. Although the Beagle’s principal work involved coastal surveying, Darwin also traveled extensively inland on expeditions across South America.

The journey carried the Beagle through the Atlantic, around Cape Horn, along the coasts of Patagonia and Chile, across the Pacific, and through places including the Galápagos Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, and the Cape of Good Hope. Darwin explored more than 2,000 miles inland and collected over 5,000 specimens.

The figure is usually given as “about” or “nearly” 40,000 miles, so the stored answer is the standard quiz answer. It refers to the second voyage, not every expedition in the ship’s career.