Literary Adventure
By John Bregoli
The Wager A Tale of Shipwreck , Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
I
was already a fan of David Grann from two of his non-fiction works set in the 1920s : The Lost City of Z and Killers of the Flower Moon . For this one , Grann takes us back to the age of sail — a time when the European powers were carving up the New World to expand their empire .
In the 18th century , Spain was the dominant empire in Latin America — but England wanted to share in the spoils . The opportunity came after a Spanish sailor cut off a British sailor ’ s ear , setting off … wait for it … the War of Jenkin ’ s Ear ! The HMS Wager was one of seven British warships that left England in 1740 on a voyage across the Atlantic , around Cape Horn , and into the Pacific , where they were to intercept a treasure-filled Spanish galleon off the Chilean coast . That was the plan , anyway .
Drawing on firsthand accounts , logbooks , and personal diaries , Grann recounts the voyage of the Wager — and the story he unfurls like a billowing sail will haunt your dreams .
Even under ideal conditions , Grann informs us , 18th-century ocean voyages were fraught with peril . Aside from the obvious dangers of going to battle on the high seas ( a table in the midshipmen ’ s quarters was reserved for amputating limbs ), countless vessels were lost during storms . And when you have seamen packed tightly on leaking , unheated vessels for months or years at a time , illness is always lurking . Before leaving port , the Wager lost men to typhus — and would take many more later in the voyage . If typhus didn ’ t get you , few escaped a ghastly ailment that turned skin blue , made teeth fall out , and dissolved bones . Scurvy — a lack of vitamin C — was the great enigma of the age of sail , and it killed more mariners than all other threats combined .
The Wager should have had full complement of seamen and marines if they were going into battle with the Spanish fleet . But British warships were rarely properly staffed at the time — when “ press gangs ” roamed the docks looking for “ volunteers .” The crew members we get to know include Captain Cheap , who gains the Wager ’ s helm mid-voyage with an arrogant swagger that makes him loathed by the crew ; the veteran gunner John Bulkeley , admired for his hard work and natural leadership ; and a romantic young midshipman , John Byron ( grandfather of the poet Lord Byron ) whose loyalties are divided between the gunner and the captain he has sworn to serve .
Life was already quite miserable during the Atlantic crossing , but as the flotilla approached South America , scurvy swept through the fleet , killing about half of each crew . “ The once mighty squadron resembled ghost ships ,” Grann writes , “ and those who were alive were nearly indistinguishable from the dead .” But now came the hard part — rounding Cape Horn .
Not many ships of the era attempted the voyage around Cape Horn . Since the waters here flow uninterrupted around the world , they gather enormous power . Reaching Cape Horn they are funneled into the Drake Passage , producing the strongest currents on Earth . If that ’ s not enough , waves of frightening magnitude are generated — some even dwarfing 90-foot-high masts . With ships relying on “ dead reckoning ,” even the most skilled captains needed a bit of luck to make it through safely . And the Wager was not lucky .
Separated from the fleet and facing a relentless onslaught of towering waves and gale-force winds , the Wager had enough . Suddenly , “ the bowsprit cleaved , windows burst , treenails popped , planks shattered , cabins collapsed , decks caved in …” and the ship ran aground . While it was breaking up , most of the crew were able to scramble ashore to an
22 DISPATCHES • JUNE 2023