One of the world's most enduring naval mysteries -- the fate of HMS Beagle, the ship that carried Charles Darwin round the world and led him to develop his theory of natural selection -- may finally have been solved.
Advanced ground-penetrating radar could have located the ship, which disappeared more than a century ago, near Potton Island in Essex, on the east coast of England. The discovery has been made by one of the world's leading marine archaeologists, Robert Prescott of St Andrews University, a founder of the Scottish Institute of Maritime Studies and who set up the Beagle Ship Research Group three years ago.
The discovery suggests that the bulk of the ship is intact and could be raised and restored.
Launched in 1820 at Woolwich Royal Dockyard on the Thames, the Beagle was one of the commonest class of warships built by the Navy. After several years' service, it was refitted as a hydrographic survey vessel and subsequently placed under the command of Robert Fitzroy.
The Beagle set off on its great journey, with Darwin on board, in 1831 and for five years carried out detailed surveying of the tip of South America and in the Galapagos islands. The young biologist, who later described the voyage as "the most important event in my life," noted local variations among the birds and animals he encountered.
From these observations, which he recorded in his tiny cabin on the Beagle, he developed his theory of natural selection, published in On the Origin of Species in 1859.
But the fate of the ship that was instrumental in the theory's development has been lost for more than a century. All that was known was that after its historic journey the Beagle passed into the service of the UK Customs and Excise and was used as an anti-smuggling patrol vessel along the Essex coast.
But detailed detective work by Prescott has since revealed that for many years the Beagle was moored in mid-stream on the River Roach, where it was perfectly placed to intercept smugglers.
Then, in 1870, records show that the Beagle was auctioned to local scrap merchants Murray and Trainer. After that, no records remain. But detailed archaeological studies have shown that on the north bank of the Roach, a small dock had been built around this time and this has been the focus of efforts by the St Andrews team.
"Essentially, we have found the outline of a dock that was long ago abandoned and filled in," Prescott said. "We think the Beagle, stripped of its superstructure, ended up in there."
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS