Book Report: The Wager – A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny & Murder
Author: David Grann
Publication: 2025
Pages: 322
Completion Date: 5/4/25
The book started out with a lot of information about Captain David Cheap, who started out as a First Lieutenant on the Centurion, one of seven ships on a journey to steal silver, silks, spices & other Asian goods from Spanish ships transiting between the Philippines & Central America. George Anson was the Commodore and leader of the entire expedition. The seven ships were Centurion, Trial, Pearl, Wager, Severn, Glouchester, Anna and the Industry. The first five were man-o-warships and the latter two were support ships that would later turn back after their supplies had moved over to the main ships.
The Wager was 123′ long & ~35′ wide. It was the ugly duckling of the group and had previously been a merchant ship that was purchased and repurposed as a warship. Getting sailors for long-term operations was very difficult, so they were conscripted – snatched from returning merchant ships, press-ganged from cities or soldiers were retrieved from retirement homes and put on the ships. Ages of sailors ranged from 6-80 years old. Conditions were hard and men slept in hammocks only 1′ from one another. They would often climb 100′ masts to unfurl sails.
Officer logbooks were tediously kept as they were required of senior offices by the British navy so that records were kept on daily weather, navigation, etc. Other private journals/logs were kept by other sailors which were a wealth of information.
The expedition left England on 8/23/1740, resupplied in Madeira on 10/25/1740 & landed on St. Catherine Island (off the coast of Brazil) on 12/17/1740. Here they hunted, replenished supplies and repaired their ships. It was here that David Cheap was transferred to be the captain of the Wager. They believed that the passage around Cape Horn would be easier in the Southern Hemisphere’s summer, but they were wrong. They headed for Cape Horn on 1/18/1741 through the Drake Passage. This is where the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans meet – with the longest running, strongest waves supported by hurricane force winds. AIt took them much longer to get around the southern tip of South America than projected. The Wager sunk on 5/14/1741 with 145 survivors vs. the original 250 men who had set out – largely due to diseases like typhus and scurvy. During this time period, scurvy (lack of vitamin C) killed more people than all other combined diseases. Later it was determined that all but one of the ships sunk with only the Centurion surviving to go to the Philippines.
Wager Island, which it later became known as, was only about 2 miles wide by 4 miles long, mountainous with virtually no food available. There was an Indian tribe that helped them for about a week, but left after they were treated poorly. Although Captain Cheap was ostensibly in charge, men were gravitating to the leadership of John Bulkley, the munitions officer, who was more of a natural leader focusing on life & liberty vs Captain Cheap who focused on duty, honor and patriotism. Men continued to die and there was ultimately a full-blown mutiny. Burkley’s crew built two small boats to try and sail back to Brazil – leaving the captain & 12 others behind. Out of the 81 that left Wager Island, only 29 made it to Rio Grande on 1/28/1742 – which was a 3,000 mile journey back around Cape Horn. Four men were left behind by the boat when they made their first stop as there was not enough room on the boat (one boat had sunk). Another 8 had swum to shore for supplies and the boat was unable to make it to shore to pick them up, so they were also left behind enroute. The former four were never heard from again. Out of the latter eight, four made it back to civilization. Unfortunately, one of them was a free black man and he was immediately enslaved and sold. The ones who made it to Rio Grande were unlimately returned to England on 1/1/1743. They immediately began telling stories of the captain’s death and selling stories to magazines to gain some finances given that the Navy did not pay them while they were shipwrecked. These remaining three came to England soon after. When they arrived there, they told everyone that the captain was dead, even though he & 12 others were left behind. No one thought they would live, but they were ultimately rescued by Indians and taken north to Valparaiso, Chile. During the trip, six absconded with a raft and were never heard from again & several others died enroute. Four, including the captain, made it to land in July, 1742 and were promptly arrested by the Spaniards. After several years, three of them were returned to England in February of 1746 – having been away from home for 5.5 years. One stayed behind to remain in the Spanish army. Soon after the three arrived, the British Navy commenced a court-martial, but it largely dealt with how the ship wrecked and who was responsible as opposed to the mutiny & murder that occurred. No one was really charged with anything signficant. David Cheap rejoined the navy after the court martial, capturing a major Spanish ship in December 1746. After that, he retired. John Bulkley immigrated to Pennsylvania.
I learned the following from this book that will increase the prospects for my success after prison:
1) These men suffered greatly on the voyage from the UK through Cape Horn, largely because of disease. They suffered even more once their ship wrecked with many dying by freezing and starvation. However, through amazing odds, some made it back to civilization. If they can endure what they endured and make it back to England to restart their careers, I can make it through a 2-year prison sentence, return home to my wife and kids, restart a business and rebuild our finances.
2) Just because you are the appointed leader like David Cheap was, you may not be the actual leader like John Bulkley was. David had the captain’s stripes, but when the going got tough, a different type of leader was needed and he materialized. Sometimes you need one type of leader for one situation and a different type of leader for another situation. I may be the right type of person to start and grow a business, but I now realize I am not the right type of leader to sustain a business through normal times (vs growth times).
