Charles Darwin travelled on HMS Beagle during its famous 1831–1836 voyage.
The second voyage of HMS Beagle was commanded by Robert FitzRoy and began in December 1831. Darwin joined as a young naturalist and travelled as a civilian companion rather than as the ship’s official naval surgeon or captain. The expedition’s main purpose was surveying coasts, but Darwin collected specimens and recorded observations across South America, the Pacific, and other regions.
Visits to the Galápagos Islands in 1835 became especially important to the development of Darwin’s thinking. He noticed differences among mockingbirds and tortoises on separate islands, though the full significance of those observations became clearer later. The voyage also exposed him to fossils, geological formations, and living organisms that helped shape his scientific work.
Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, more than two decades after returning. HMS Beagle was not the vessel of James Cook’s first voyage; that was HMS Endeavour. The Beagle itself later served in other roles, including coastal surveying and a period as a watch vessel.