Coastal survey vessel HMS Beagle (H319) was built by Brooke Marine at Lowestoft, and launched on September 7, 1967.

Despite her modest size - she displaces 1,160 tons when fully loaded - she was originally designed for overseas work, although in her latter years she has tended to be more involved in work around the UK coastline.

She has a complement of 42, including five officers, and although more than 30 years old, upgraded equipment means she is still an effective survey platform.

When she first commissioned, in 1968, charting was a labour-intensive operation, but Beagle's integrated navigation and survey system, combining input from precision ranging radar and sonars, means she can process charts in real time as she gathers data. She carries a nine-metre survey motor boat.

HMS Beagle is due back in Devonport on January 18, when she will fly her paying-off pennant after almost 33 years of surveying work and other tasks around the globe.

The coastal survey vessel's last year in service has seen her as busy as ever, with a 14-week stint in Sierra Leone on the coast of West Africa being followed by a five-month deployment to the Middle East, participating in the major tri-Service Exercise Saif Sareea off Oman before completing work updating charts in the Gulf.

Beagle, whose sister HMS Bulldog decommissioned in 2001, will leave active service with the Royal Navy in February 2002.

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