The Beagle Project in The Times...

yes, the London Times, the Thunderer itself! Read all about it here.

Writing in the Notebook section, Peter Davies shows a real grasp of the importance of HMS Beagle in the story of Darwin and genesis of the theory of evolution.

"From the all-too-modest service career of HMS Beagle, it could never have been divined that she was destined to become one of the most famous ships ever to sail the seven seas."

Damn right. Most of the other famous ships you could name were a part of history, part of a battle, one of several that made that voyage or disccovery, but the Beagle decisively changed our intellectual landscape forever: no Beagle voyage, Darwin becomes a country clergyman, no Origin of Species.