The War of Jenkins’ Ear pitted Britain against Spain from 1739 to 1748, leaving three particularly noteworthy episodes in its wake. One was the incident that sparked it, leading the British to name it that way while Spanish call it Guerra del Asiento. Another was Admiral Howard Vernon’s disastrous attempt to conquer Cartagena de Indias, thwarted by the determined defense led by Blas de Lezo. And the third was the circumnavigation undertaken by Commodore George Anson, celebrated in his country as a great feat not only for the circumnavigation itself but also for his capture of the Acapulco Galleon—though the adventure nearly ended in catastrophe.

Anson was born in Straffordshire in 1697 into a noble family. He entered the Royal Navy at age fifteen, participating in the War of Spanish Succession, and in 1716, once that war ended, he was promoted to lieutenant and stationed in the Baltic. Gradually, he continued to rise in rank: commander in 1722, captain in 1724, and commodore in 1740.

Thus, he was a veteran sailor when, in the context of the War of Jenkins’ Ear, he was assigned command of a squadron with orders to round Cape Horn and attack Spain’s Pacific possessions, stirring rebellion against the crown worn by Philip V at the time.

George Anson Acapulco Galleon
George Anson (by Thomas Hudson). Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

Anson was not the only one tasked with “singeing the King of Spain’s beard”—to use Francis Drake’s words—as the aforementioned Howard Vernon had conquered Portobelo in 1739 following the revocation of a treaty between the two countries. Until then, it had granted Britain the Asiento de Negros (license to sell slaves in the Americas) and allowed the South Sea Company to send one ship to those American possessions for trade (the so-called permission ship, which was limited to 500 tons).

This break in relations was triggered when Spanish coastguards seized one of the frequent British smuggling vessels and allegedly cut off the ear of its captain, Robert Jenkins, as punishment (hence the English name for the war).

In reality, it seems that the entire episode was fabricated to justify a casus belli. Nonetheless, the two nations were at war again, but those precedents partly marred the mission that the Duke of Newcastle entrusted to Anson, as two agents from the South Sea Company, responsible for supplying the squadron, advised the commodore to bring a load of manufactured goods to introduce British trade in Peru, and they themselves boarded to oversee the matter. In fact, two merchant ships were armed to carry supplies for the six combat ships (five ships of the line and an armed East Indiaman). The flagship was the 60-gun HMS Centurion.

George Anson Acapulco Galleon
The squadron of Anson in an illustration from A Voyage Round the World, a book by Anson himself. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

An indication that the organization was lacking is that the promised 500 soldiers were not provided. Instead, 500 men discharged from active service due to age or illness were gathered ad hoc at the Royal Hospital of Chelsea; half deserted before embarking, and it was necessary to replace the loss with newly recruited marines. These challenges were compounded by adverse weather that delayed the departure so long that, in the meantime, the squadron was tasked with escorting a convoy of merchant ships through the English Channel; a mission executed without much brilliance, given the number of ships that collided with each other. The bitter icing on the cake was that French spies had time to discover Anson’s true objective and warned their Spanish allies.

Thus, a squadron commanded by Admiral José Alfonso Pizarro set out to intercept the British near Madeira. However, the British were so delayed—by four weeks—that the Spaniards dispersed in search of them, while the fortunate Anson managed to reach the archipelago, take on water, load fresh provisions, and continue across the Atlantic unimpeded. But other problems arose.

The most significant issue was that the food spoiled quickly, and since the ships were so heavily laden that opening the ports would allow water to flood in, the sailors had to endure the unpleasant company of swarms of flies. This was especially painful due to the overcrowding on each ship, which reduced the time each crew member could spend on deck in the open air.

José Alfonso Pizarro portrayed by Joaquín Gutiérrez. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

These conditions led to outbreaks of typhus and dysentery, affecting hundreds and necessitating the opening of ventilation windows in the hulls. They endured these conditions for two months until reaching the Brazilian island of Santa Catarina, where they disembarked the sick and disinfected the ships with smoke and vinegar. However, due to other repairs needed, their stay lasted so long that mosquitoes attacked the British, spreading malaria. When they reboarded a month later, dozens had died, and many more were still convalescing. And they were unaware of the worst: despite being allies, the Portuguese informed Spain of Anson’s presence, prompting Pizarro’s squadron to double Cape Horn to await them.

The crossing from the Atlantic to the Pacific, undertaken in January 1741, was hellish for the British, who were battered first by a violent storm and then caught sight of the Spanish ships among the waves. They managed to escape as night fell, but at the cost of throwing much of their supplies overboard to lighten their load. They pressed on amidst a violent and unending tempest, compounded by the onset of scurvy, which claimed hundreds of lives in the following weeks. They finally made the passage to the other ocean in early April, a remarkable feat given their lack of accurate maps and knowledge of local currents.

They did arrive, but scattered and battered, with broken masts and torn sails as the bad weather continued to lash at them, in addition to being very low on provisions. Not finding themselves at the first agreed-upon point, Socorro or Guamblin Island, nor the third, which was Valdivia port, which would have disclosed their position, they headed for another desolate island territory: the Juan Fernández Archipelago (where Alexander Selkirk was shipwrecked in 1707, likely inspiring Daniel Defoe for his novel Robinson Crusoe).

George Anson Acapulco Galleon
Map of Cape Horn indicating distances. Credit: Johantheghost / Wikimedia Commons

They were navigating blindly and ended up detouring along the Chilean coast, which cost more lives. They finally arrived in early June, but only the HMS Centurion and the HMS Tryal, the latter having lost half its crew. Two weeks later, the HMS Gloucester joined them, with fewer than a hundred of its initial 254 sailors remaining, all suffering from scurvy; some would pass away in the days that followed.

In August, a fourth ship, the transport Anna, arrived, having taken shelter all that time in what is now the Gulf of Penas. An inspection of its hull revealed it was in poor condition, so it was scuttled, and its crew was distributed among the other ships. Altogether, two-thirds of the personnel had been lost, and there was still no news of those missing: the HMS Severn, the HMS Pearl, and the HMS Wager. The first two, with reduced crews, turned back and, after a stop in Rio de Janeiro, returned to England, avoiding any accusation of desertion that might arise from the impressive number of casualties they had suffered.

As for the Wager, it suffered so severely from disease that only a dozen sailors were fit to operate it in the hellish weather, ultimately leading it to crash into some reefs. The survivors, deprived of the captain’s authority—since a shipwreck meant they would not be paid—turned on each other, some following the first officer, while others went off on their own; some were captured by the Spanish, who assisted them in returning to Europe. Later, a trial was held, but it reached no conclusion as each survivor gave a different account.

George Anson Acapulco Galleon
Juan Fernández Island in an illustration from A voyage round the world, George Anson’s own account. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

In September 1741, Anson’s forces had recovered, but he did not know what to do, as he had no news; the war might have already ended. Capturing a Spanish merchant ship, Nuestra Señora del Monte Carmelo, allowed him to catch up on the latest news and learn that Pizarro’s squadron had suffered as much as his at Cape Horn, losing several ships and returning to Spain.

This left him free to operate in the Pacific, and indeed, he conducted a series of actions that included capturing vessels and attacking poorly defended towns, such as Paita (Peru). In doing so, he obtained substantial loot, which encouraged the British to sail northward with the idea of intercepting the Manila Galleon, expected to arrive in two months.

They reached Acapulco at the end of January 1742, learning that the galleon in question—no longer that type of ship, though it kept the name—had arrived three weeks earlier and was preparing to set sail again for Asia, now as the Acapulco Galleon, with its cargo of silver, highly demanded in China. Anson, short of manpower, recruited slaves he had taken from the Spanish during this time; but the British were detected, and the ship’s departure was delayed. Then, without a prize to pursue, the commodore decided to return to his country. He chose to do so by crossing the Pacific, as he did not want to face the dreaded Cape Horn again and calculated that, in the end, it would take less time to cross the ocean.

George Anson Acapulco Galleon
Anson’s attack on Paita in 1742 (Samuel Scott). Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

His estimates did not hold up because it was summer and the trade winds barely blew, making the journey exasperatingly slow, and scurvy broke out again. He had begun the crossing on May 6, and by mid-August, still en route, an irreparable leak opened in the Gloucester. Considering the ship lost, it was set ablaze, with its crew transferring to the Centurion, the only remaining ship, but in such poor condition that they had to take turns handling the pumps.

A series of deaths from disease began, and they were only saved by reaching Tinian in the Mariana Islands, where they encountered no Spaniards; in fact, they were able to replenish their supplies of water, fruit, and livestock stocked for the enemy fleet, especially focusing on breadfruit trees, which would later inspire the famous HMS Bounty expedition.

On September 18, one of the most bizarre episodes of that ordeal occurred: they were caulking the Centurion when a violent storm swept the ship out to sea, leaving them stranded on the island. They spent nearly three weeks debating what to do when, suddenly, the ship reappeared on the horizon. They recovered it and prepared it once more to set sail. This time, there were no problems, and they arrived at the Portuguese colony of Macau in November, but the Portuguese had moved to Canton, and the Chinese refused to allow the British ship to anchor unless it paid the required fee, considering it a pirate responsible for the Acapulco Galleon’s non-arrival.

George Anson Acapulco Galleon
Route of the Manila Galleon following the Tornaviaje discovered by Andrés de Urdaneta. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

The negotiations, supported by the British East India Company, lasted a month, after which, under the threat of cannon fire on the city, they were allowed to dock, with the goal of their prompt departure. Little did the Chinese know that, inadvertently, they were facilitating Anson’s capture of the Acapulco Galleon, as the commodore had decided to attempt it in order to return to England with something in hand.

Thus, once the Centurion was ready, he stationed himself at Cape Espiritu Santo, waiting for his prey, which appeared in June 1743. It was named Nuestra Señora de Covadonga, and, as it was traveling without escort (the only one it had ran aground), it was captured after an hour and a half of bloody combat. Upon entering its hold, the attackers were stunned by a fabulous treasure: 1,313,843 pieces of eight (the famous Spanish dollar, the first world currency) and 35,682 ounces of silver.

There was double joy because it was in China that they had learned of the fate of the rest of the squadron; now it was their turn to return as well. Some prisoners were disembarked in Macau and the rest in Whampoa, near Canton, where Anson obtained supplies after the crew helped extinguish a fire in the city.

George Anson Acapulco Galleon
The circumnavigation of the HMS Centurion. Credit: Melkart / Wikimedia Commons

The Centurion set sail on December 7 and, after leaving Indonesia and rounding the Cape of Good Hope in March, sailed up the Atlantic, finally reaching England. A total of 188 men disembarked, who, together with those from the Severn, Pearl, and Wager, numbered half a thousand; scant survivors of the 1,854 who had departed almost four years earlier.

Anson became a hero, compared to Drake and welcomed by the king. But the distribution of the juicy loot was as controversial as it was pathetic. The sailors received 300 pounds each, equivalent to two decades of salary, but the expedition’s officers litigated among themselves for years because, according to regulations, those from the ill-fated ships lost their rank, greatly reducing their entitled share, though they felt they had been crucial in saving the Centurion. The court ruled in their favor, but they lost on appeal, likely because Anson, now promoted to admiral (and who would go on to become First Lord), had recently distinguished himself in the first Battle of Cape Finisterre (1747).

Incidentally, he took three-eighths, approximately 91,000 pounds of that time; a real fortune and more than he earned, evidently, from publishing the account of his Voyage Around the World. No one remembered the seven lost ships or the 1,250 men who died.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on September 19, 2019: George Anson, el marino británico que dio la vuelta al mundo para capturar el Galeón de Acapulco

SOURCES

Jorge Anson, Viaje alrededor del mundo hecho en los años desde 1740 al 1744

George Anson, Anson’s voyage around the world

John Masefield, ed., A voyage round the world in tje years 1740-4 by Lord Anson

John Barrow, The life of George Lord Anson

Glyn Williams, The prize of all the oceans

Wikipedia, Viaje de Anson alrededor del mundo

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