It had at first been intended to send two expeditions to the South Seas, one under Anson to Manila, and another under Captain Cornwall round the Horn. But the Government changed its mind. Anson alone sailed, and was directed not on Manila but on Panama. There was delay, as always at that time, and the squadron did not leave England till the 18th September 1740. It consisted of six ships:—
+--------------+-------+-------+--------------------------+ | | Guns. | Men. | | | +-------+-------+ | | =Centurion= | 60 | 400 | George Anson, commodore. | | =Gloucester= | 50 | 300 | Richard Norris. | | =Severn= | 50 | 300 | Honourable Edward Legge. | | =Pearl= | 40 | 250 | M. Mitchell. | | =Wager= | 28 | 160 | Dandy Kidd. | | =Trial= | 8 | 100 | Honourable G. Murray. | +--------------+-------+-------+--------------------------+
There were two victuallers, transports to carry stores—the =Anna= and =Industry=. The squadron was fairly provided, but was hampered by a number of so-called soldiers who were in fact Chelsea pensioners, sent on board in disregard of Anson’s protest. All who could walk deserted. The others died before the ships entered the Pacific; among them it is said that there was a veteran who had fought at the Boyne for King William. On the 25th October the squadron was at Madeira, and it reached St. Catherine, in Southern Brazil, on the 21st November. Already the scurvy had broken out, and Anson stopped to restore the health of his crews till the 18th January 1741. From St. Catherine the squadron fought its way South through storms to Port St. Julian, famous in the voyages of Magellan and of Drake. From thence it went on to the Pacific by the Straits of Le Maire and the Horn. It was a less dangerous route than the Straits of Magellan, but the incessant tempest made it perilous. Through one unbroken fury of wind and wave the squadron struggled on to the Pacific, but all did not reach it. The navigation of the time was rude, there were no chronometers, no means of finding the longitude. Two of the ships of the squadron, the =Severn= and the =Pearl=, came up on the wrong side of South America, and returned to England. Of the others the =Wager= rounded the Horn, but was wrecked in the Golfo de Peñas. Anson did not reach Juan Fernandez, the island of Robinson Crusoe, or at least of his original Alexander Selkirk, till 10th June, with his crew reduced to a mere handful by scurvy. The =Trial=, the =Gloucester=, and the =Anna= came in one after the other. The last was broken up, and her crew taken into the other vessels. It was September before the crews were sufficiently revived for service. During the last months of 1741 and the first of 1742, Anson remained on the coast taking prizes and capturing Paita. The =Trial= was condemned. His squadron was too weak to effect anything against Panama, and he missed the heavily laden ship, which came yearly from the Philippines to Acapulco, in Mexico. On the 28th April he left the American coast and stretched across the Pacific. Storms and scurvy raged round him again, and the =Gloucester= had to be sacrificed. The =Centurion= now alone remained. With her, Anson reached Canton, 21st November 1742, where he refitted. Then he took the sea once more to look for the Manila treasure-ship. On the 20th June 1743 he met and captured the _Nuestra Señora de Covadonga_, a prize of immense value, off Cape Espiritu Santo, in the Philippines. As a feat of war the achievement was naught, for the Spaniard had most of his guns dismounted, and fought at hopeless disadvantage. Anson’s greatness comes from this—that he conquered so much to be there at all. He returned with his prize to Canton, sailed for home on the 15th October 1743, and reached Spithead on the 15th June 1744.