The ship that took Charles Darwin on his journey, leading to the formulation of his theory of evolution, was the HMS Beagle. Launched in 1820, the Beagle undertook a surveying mission from 1831 to 1836, during which Darwin served as the ship's naturalist. His observations and collections during the trip, particularly in the Galápagos Islands, inspired his later work on natural selection. The journey contributed immensely to Darwin's understanding of adaptation and species evolution, ultimately culminating in his groundbreaking publication, "On the Origin of Species," in 1859.