Year 1826 -1836 The Beagle Mission
- Pedro Moreno Mella
- Feb 3, 2025
- 2 min read
Captain Robert Fitz Roy
BEAGLE MISSION – Year 1826 / 1836
After the Nodal brothers' voyage, numerous expeditions from various countries arrived at the Strait, some of them pirates, others scientists. The most notable was that of the Spanish frigate "Santa María de la Cabeza", commanded by Captain Antonio de Córdoba, who in 1785 fully explored this passage that unites the oceans.
In order to facilitate navigation around the southern tip of America, in 1826 the British Navy sent a hydrographic expedition under the command of Captain Parker King, in the ships "Adventure" and "Beagle", which carried out the survey of the Patagonian coast in the Atlantic and from Chiloé to the southern tip of the Pacific. The ships remained mainly in the Magellanic channels, the Strait and Tierra del Fuego.
The most important work was carried out by the "Beagle", which for two years was commanded by Captain Pringles Stokes, who died tragically and whose remains rest in the San Juan Cemetery (English Cemetery). He was succeeded in command by Captain Robert Fitz Roy, who completed the work in 1836, ending the voyage with a trip around the world, on which he was accompanied by the famous naturalist Charles Darwin. The Beagle enabled the discovery of Navarino Island, the Beagle Channel, the Skiring and Otway Inlets and the interior channels of Ultima Esperanza.
*** TOURISM: You can visit the Nao Victoria Museum, full-size replicas of the ships of Magellan, Fitz Roy, Ancud, among others. / Nao Victoria Museum Click link: https://g.co/kgs/2PrdGKa
Captain Fitz Roy, along with his hydrographic work, carried out an interesting study of the Fuegian Indians, of Tierra del Fuego itself, the Strait of Magellan and the western channels, up to the Gulf of Penas. Darwin's participation in the expedition facilitated knowledge of the fauna and flora and the geology of the region.
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