George Anson's voyage around the world

Background

In 1739, the riches that Spain derived from the New World were well known throughout Europe. Huge quantities of silver were shipped from Peru, carried over the isthmus at Panama and then loaded on ships at Portobelo bound for Spain. Other ships carried luxury goods from Manila to Acapulco from where they were taken to Vera Cruz and loaded along with Mexican silver. Spain's Caribbean possessions provided sugar, tobacco, dyes and spices.

Britain had negotiated a treaty (the asiento) that allowed the South Sea Company to send one slave trading vessel per year to Spanish territory but private British merchants, many operating out of Jamaica, smuggled cargo (to avoid being taxed) which the Spanish attempted to intercept. After numerous incidents and with old rivalries flaring up once again, increased tensions led to the War of Jenkins' Ear.

Various schemes were proposed to attack Spanish possessions. Edward Vernon captured Portobelo in November 1739 with just six ships, and a second squadron to be led by George Anson, was to sail around Cape Horn with six warships carrying 500 troops with instructions to capture Callao in Peru (the port that served the nearby capital Lima) and if possible take Lima as well; capture Panama with its treasure; seize the galleon from Acapulco; and lead a Peruvian revolt against the Spanish colonial authorities. An earlier proposal to also capture Manila was dropped.

It appears that a conflict of interest was, at least in part, behind the unreasonable orders given to Anson by the Duke of Newcastle on 28 June 1740. The attacks were suggested by Hubert Tassell and Henry Hutchison, previously factors (agents) of the South Sea Company who had significant recent information about the area which the government lacked but who also stood to gain if the area was opened up to British trade. Supporting this view was that the squadron was to carry £15,000 of trade goods. Given the length of the voyage, it was expected that it would be necessary to buy provisions along the way. In friendly ports, bills of exchange would have been used. In enemy ports it may not have been possible to buy anything, though outright seizure would be possible if the town was captured. The relationship of Tassell and Hutchison to the squadron was further complicated by them supplying victuals (food) and that they would come along on one of the ships to oversee the trade goods.

The ships and men

The squadron based in Portsmouth was composed of six warships:

Centurion (a fourth-rate ship of 1,005 tons, 60 guns, 400 men and the flagship)

Gloucester (853 tons, 50 guns, 300 men)

Severn (853 tons, 50 guns, 300 men)

Pearl (600 tons, 40 guns, 250 men)

Wager (599 tons, 24 guns, 160 men)

Tryal (200 tons, 8 guns, 70 men)

Two merchant vessels, Anna and Industry, would carry additional supplies.

The provision of 500 troops was farcical. No regular troops were made available so 500 invalids were to be collected from the Chelsea Hospital. In this case, the term invalid referred to soldiers that were too sick, wounded or old for active duty but might be able to perform lighter duties. In any case, on hearing details of the proposed voyage, those that could get away did and only 259 came aboard, many on stretchers. To make up for the 241 missing, marines were ordered aboard, but these were such fresh recruits that few of them had yet been trained how to fire a gun.

The addition of invalids and marines caused all the ships to be overcrowded. For example the Wager sailed with 250, of whom only 105 were crew..

The departure

The squadron was as ready as it was going to get by mid-August but strong winds kept the ships in harbour. Before heading to South America, Anson was required to escort a huge fleet of transports and merchant vessels out of the English Channel and the initial attempt to get to sea was abandoned as ships crashed into each other. Finally the squadron sailed from Spithead on 18 September 1740 overseeing a convoy of 152 ships. Unfortunately, with the long delays, French agents had picked up word of the expedition and passed the information to Spain. In response, they sent five warships under Admiral Pizarro to lie in wait near Portuguese Madeira which was neutral territory and to be Anson's first port of call.

Voyage

The squadron reached Madeira on 25 October 1740, the journey taking four weeks longer than normal. Portuguese officials reported that warships, probably Spanish, had been seen at the western end of the island so Anson sent a boat out to investigate but it returned without sighting them. Fresh food and water were taken on with extra urgency and the ships slipped out without incident on 3 November. Had contact been made with Pizarro's squadron, the expedition likely would have ended since Anson's ships would have had to throw overboard the huge quantity of provisions cluttering the decks, which prevented the effective working of the guns.

After taking three days at sea to transfer supplies, Industry turned back on 20 November. By now, food had started to rot and the ships were infested with flies. There was a desperate need to provide additional ventilation to the lower decks. Normally the gun ports would be opened but since the ships were riding so low in the water with the weight of provisions, this was impossible, so six air holes were cut in each ship. However, this was only part of a bigger problem that was to have disastrous consequences. With the ships' regular crew, the conditions were crowded, with hammocks placed 14" (about 36cm) apart, though the rotating watch system meant that only half would be below at any one time so effectively each had 28" (about 71cm). However, the invalids and marines boosted the number of men on board by about 25% and were forced to stay below most of the time as they would be in the way on deck. Typhus, or ship fever, is spread by body lice which thrived in the hot, humid and unsanitary conditions. After two months at sea, this disease and dysentery raced through the crews.

The squadron reached Ilha de Santa Catarina (St Catherine's), a large island just off the coast of Portuguese southern Brazil on 21 December and the sick were sent ashore, eighty from Centurion alone. A thorough cleaning then commenced with the below-deck areas first scrubbed clean, then fires lit inside and the hatches closed so that the smoke would kill rats and other vermin, then everything was washed down with vinegar.

Anson had hoped to stay only long enough to pick up firewood, fresh water and provisions but the main mast of Tryal needed repairs that took almost a month. Meanwhile, the men on shore in makeshift tents were exposed to mosquitoes and malaria. Although 28 men from the Centurion had died while in port, the number of sick taken back on board when they left on 18 January 1741 had increased from 80 to 96. A wide variety of fruits and vegetables were available but it is unclear how much actually came on board. The official account noted a "great plenty" but one journal keeper said it was enough only to feed all the crew for a single day. Although Portugal was not at war with England and in theory was an ally under the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, the governor was later revealed to have notified Spanish Buenos Aires where Pizarro's squadron had arrived. Although waiting for provisions, Pizarro immediately put to sea sailing south to get around Cape Horn before the British.

The missing ships

Severn and Pearl lost sight of the other ships during the night of 10 April 1741, although it is not clear if they also lost sight of each other until morning. There were accusations later that Captain Edward Legge on the Severn had made some arrangement with Captain George Murray on Pearl to break away from the group. Before the storm both captains reported severe problems with sickness with men dying every day and damage to ship, but Anson brushed them off, responding that their situation was no different from the others.

The two ships headed north together, attempting to rejoin the squadron, but on the 13th they also sighted land which they believed to be hundreds of miles behind them. Luckily, they made landfall in daylight so they had better warning. As fog descended and not knowing what had become of the other ships, Severn and Pearl headed west to get some sea room, and the officers agreed that, unless the winds became favourable, they would return around the Horn to safety. Then on the 17th violent gales from the north-west pushed them back toward the land. Lookouts believed they saw land, so to save the ships and the crew, the order was given to turn the ships south and east and retreat around Cape Horn. In fact, mortality on the Pearl was not nearly as severe as that on Severn; by the time that ship reached Rio de Janeiro on 6 June 158 of the ship's crew had died and of the remainder, 114 were too sick to be of use, leaving just 30 men and boys to work the ship. This does not count the invalids and marines, nearly all of whom died.

After a month in Rio, Murray wanted to make another attempt to reach the Pacific but Legge, the more senior officer overruled him, saying that both ships still had insufficient able-bodied men and in any case, even if Anson had survived the storms, he may well be headed home by now. The two ships left Rio in December 1741, headed for England via the West Indies. Although in London there were some gossip of desertion, the official report of the voyage in 1748 made no such suggestion but instead spoke of the 'great joy' aboard the Centurion after it reached Canton and learned that the two ships had survived.

Wager Mutiny

The Wager was more a freighter than a fighting ship and so even though only Tryal was smaller, she carried the largest number of invalids and marines (142, outnumbering the crew of 106) plus substantial stores for the other ships and guns and ammunition for the soldiers to fight with on shore. David Cheap was her third captain since leaving England, but had been sick during much of the voyage and was below decks, sick in his cabin, when the damaged ship lost sight of the others after the narrow escape off Cape Noir. After feeling they had made sufficient distance out to sea, he gave orders to head for the first rendezvous point, the island of Socorro just off the coast. His lieutenant Robert Baynes and the gunner John Bulkeley had argued that it was too dangerous to approach a target on the lee shore in a disabled ship with just 12 men fit for duty and so they should instead head toward Juan Fernandez in the open ocean. They were overruled.

On 13 May 1741, the carpenter John Cummins thought he had glimpsed land to the west. This seemed unlikely as the mainland was to the east of them but they had no proper chart and so the report was ignored. As they were soon to realize, they had sailed into a large bay with a peninsula blocking their progress to the north. After a struggle to turn the ship around with so few men, they were struck by a large wave, causing Cheap to fall down a ladder, dislocating his shoulder. The surgeon gave opium to Cheap for the pain and he slept below. Instead of taking command, Baynes took to the bottle and also disappeared below. Lashed by the storm, the ship crashed onto rocks at 4 am. For the next few hours she lurched from one rock to another and then just before sinking became completely stuck. At this point there was a complete breakdown of discipline as the crew helped themselves to liquor and arms. The ship's boats were still serviceable and 140 men made it to the exposed beach of what would become known as Wager Island including Cheap, who was carried ashore. He tried to maintain control, but most blamed him for the loss of the ship and their current awful situation by his insistence on making Socorro. Admiralty regulations meant that wages would not be accrued after a wreck, so most now held Cheap in contempt rather than authority. He now carried pistols at all times. His hasty decision to shoot a drunken crew member on 10 June, followed by his refusal to allow the doctor to treat him meant that the victim took two weeks to die, alienating most of Cheap's remaining supporters. After his death, about 100 remained alive on the beach with limited food salvaged from the wreck and little shelter against the ferocious winds and driving rain of winter. Their only likely hope for salvation was the 38-foot (12 m) longboat, 30-foot (9.1 m) cutter and two smaller boats. The carpenter lengthened the longboat to 50-foot (15 m) and added a deck so that most, though not all, would fit on board.

Attacks in Spanish America

By September 1741, back at Juan Fernandez, most of Anson's men were on the way to recovery and as their health returned, they were set to work carrying out much needed repairs on the ships – as best they could with limited materials and without port facilities. The big question for Anson though was what to do next. Given that his force had been so drastically reduced and that in the nine months since they had been at St. Catherine's and received any news, the strategic situation may have changed so that perhaps England and Spain were no longer at war. There was also no way of knowing what had become of Pizarro's squadron that had attempted to intercept them though he assumed that although they likely had troubles getting around the Horn, they had probably been repaired and resupplied and were now on the lookout for him.

While contemplating an attack on Panama, a single ship was sighted on 8 September, but it sailed past the island. Presuming it to be Spanish, Anson had Centurion readied for sea and set after it, but it disappeared into the night. They continued searching two more days, but as they were about to give up, another ship was spotted coming directly towards them, causing some alarm as they feared it might have been one of Pizarro's squadron. It turned out to be a lightly armed merchant vessel. After Centurion fired four shots into the rigging, she surrendered. The cargo of Nuestra Señora del Monte Carmelo (henceforth, Carmelo) was of little interest to Anson, but the passengers carried £18,000 of bullion. Of far greater value was the information obtained from documents found aboard. Spain was still at war with Britain and a British attack in the Caribbean had been repelled so there was now no hope of linking with friendly forces for a combined attack on Panama, nor could they be resupplied. However, there was no immediate danger from Pizarro as his squadron had suffered even more terribly in their attempt to get around Cape Horn ahead of Anson. Expecting a relatively quick voyage and with access to Spanish-held ports in Chile, Pizarro's ships had set out with only four months provisions but were hit by ferocious storms after rounding the Horn and were gradually pushed backwards. The paths of the British and Spanish ships must have crossed, but since both sides were concentrating on survival and in minimal visibility, neither sighted the other.

At some point, Hermiona (54 guns) sank without trace while on the other ships, the crews began to starve. Pizarro's flagship, Asia (66 guns) and San Estevan (40 guns) made it back to the River Plate with only half the crew still alive. On the Esperenza (50 guns), just 58 out of 450 reached safety. The hull of the Guipuscoa (74 guns) began to leak, and eventually she lost all three masts, by which time 250 of the 700 crew had died. Fortunately the wind blew the broken ship north past the Rio Plata rather than into the Atlantic. The largely helpless vessel ran aground near St. Catherine's.

Pacific crossing

Based on earlier accounts, Anson expected the Pacific crossing to be an easy one, taking about two months. Other voyagers had dropped south from Acapulco at 15°51'N to pick up the tradewinds that blew constantly to the west between 10° and 14°N. However, none of them had left in May by which time the band of favourable wind had moved further north as summer approached. Centurion and Gloucester wasted seven weeks in constant heat and variable light wind, or no wind at all, getting as far south as 6°40'N before giving up and heading north again. Under normal circumstances, such a delay would be a nuisance but with ships and crew in poor condition, disaster soon unfolded. The foremast of Centurion split just days out from Acapulco and Gloucester lost its mainmast in mid-June and although improvised repairs were made, she was now much slower. Scurvy broke out first amongst the prisoners captured from the Spanish prize vessels and then at the end of June, amongst the regular crew members.

During July, Gloucester lost most of its remaining rigging and a large leak opened so that by 13 August the water inside was seven feet deep despite continuous pumping. Captain Mitchell sent a distress signal to Anson but the initial response was that leaks in Centurion were now so serious that she too was in danger of sinking. However, when the full details emerged, Anson saw there were no alternative but to salvage whatever possible from Gloucester (not much except the captured bullion), transfer the crew and then set the ship on fire to ensure that the hulk did not drift into Spanish-held Guam. Eight to ten men were dying every day and the leak became so severe that even Anson had to take his turn at the pump. It was now a race to find land, even Guam, before the ship sank. Tinian lies to the north and a little east of Guam and was sighted on 23 August but it took four days to find safe anchorage. Anson had a Spanish flag hoisted in the hope of gaining a better reception and a proa carrying four native people and one Spaniard came out to meet them. Fortunately they were the only ones on the island so Centurion came inshore and anchored. The sick were landed, 128 in all, a task that Anson and the crew of the proa helped with but 21 died during the landing or immediately after.

The island was a lush tropical paradise with an abundance of fruit and other edible greens near the beach, but also fresh water and cattle which had been brought there to provide meat for the Spanish garrison on Guam. Within just a few days, the men showed clear signs of improvement. Of particular note was the breadfruit tree. The fruit is high in starch and when boiled and then baked has a taste between potato and bread. The high praise given it by Dampier's earlier expedition and the crew of Centurion later prompted Joseph Banks to send HMS Bounty on an ill-fated voyage to take the plant to grow in the British West Indies. Having avoided drowning, the next priority was to repair Centurion. The crew shifted the cannon and later the powder barrels aft to lift the bow out of the water and the carpenters found much to replace and caulk but when the cannon and barrels were put back, the water rushed in again. The leak was apparently not going to be found and fixed without proper port facilities.

Capture of the Acapulco galleon

Although Anson had made it known that the ship would be leaving for Jakarta and thence to England, he had decided that having failed so dismally to fulfill the ambitious orders given to him, he would attempt to salvage something of the expedition and seize the galleon just before it arrived in the Philippines. It was a huge gamble as there were likely to be two ships this season since his arrival off Acapulco had kept the previous galleon in port. Shortly after leaving Macau on 19 April 1743, Anson informed the crew, who were delighted at the news. All had suffered terribly and lost friends so the capture would at least provide immense financial reward. Upon reaching Cape Espiritu Santo, the normal landfall of the galleon, on 20 May, the top sails were taken down to prevent the ship being spotted from land and the ship began a routine of tacking backwards and forwards to remain on station and practising on the guns. There were 227 men aboard compared with the normal 400 so what they lacked in numbers would have to be compensated for in speed and accuracy. Just as they were giving up hope, the galleon was spotted on the morning of 20 June. There was only one.

At noon, Centurion manoeuvered to cut off the galleon's escape to land and at one o'clock crossed in front of the Spanish vessel at very close range allowing all her big guns to fire at their target while preventing the Spaniards from returning fire. Meanwhile, marksmen stationed up the masts picked off their counterparts in the masts opposite, the galleon's officers on the deck and those manning the guns. The ships drifted further apart but the Centurion was still able to fire grapeshot across the galleon's deck and smash cannonballs into her hull.

After ninety minutes, the Spanish surrendered. Anson sent Philip Saumarez and 10 men over and they found a ghastly scene with the decks of the Nuestra Señora de Covadonga "covered with carcasses, entrails and dismembered limbs". On the Centurion one man had died, two more would later of their wounds and 17 had been injured. The ship had been hit by perhaps 30 shots. On the Covadonga, the grim figures were 67 dead, 84 wounded and 150 shots. It was carrying 1,313,843 pieces of eight (containing 33.5 tonnes of silver) and 35,682 ounces/1.07 tonnes of silver. In total 34.5 tonnes of silver was captured, worth 54 million US dollars in 2011 prices.

The Spanish had learned of Anson's presence in the Pacific when they had called in at Guam and though the Portuguese captain had suggested an alternative but longer route to Manila, he had been overruled by the Spanish officers. A merchant in Canton had sent two letters to the governor of the Philippines, the first noting the dreadful condition of the Centurion on arrival but the second, noting that the ship had been repaired and voicing suspicion that Anson might be aiming to intercept the galleon. Despite this, only a half-hearted effort was made, sending a guard ship which ran aground, leaving the galleon unprotected.

Canton

Anson's reappearance in China was greeted with disbelief and alarm by both the Chinese authorities and the European merchants. On his previous visit, the Centurion was clearly in distress but now with the battered Covadonga in tow, it confirmed Chinese fears that he was using their port as a base for piracy or warfare while the Europeans worried that their trading privileges might be revoked and that the loss of the galleon's cargo would ruin the trade with Manila.

On reaching Macau, Anson sent 60 or 70 prisoners ashore before the Chinese stopped him unloading the rest and then made way for Canton, intending this time not to be trifled with by the Chinese. The mandarin in charge of the fort at Bocca Tigris came aboard but was intimidated by the ship's heavy guns and instead tried to persuade the hired pilots to misguide the ship through the shoals. On learning of this, Anson threatened to hang one of them if the ship ran aground. Once past the forts, the ship waited for the permit to proceed upstream. Anson ordered that one of the heavy guns be fired twice a day to ensure that no subterfuge would be attempted on them again. After two weeks and some politics, the permit arrived allowing him to get to Whampoa, just short of Canton and most of the prisoners were put onto boats to be taken to Macau. He was able to secure fresh provisions but the merchants would not supply "sea provisions". Anson was anxious to put his case directly to the Viceroy and had issued a request on arrival but been told to wait till after summer. Anson sent a message saying he would arrive on 1 October but as they were about to set off one messenger said that the Viceroy wanted to postpone the meeting and then another came saying that he had waited all day and was offended that Anson had not showed up.

Anson then invited himself to stay at the British factory in Canton which, like those of other nations, was just outside the city wall on the riverbank. Foreigners were forbidden to enter the city, to carry firearms and officially were only allowed contact with the Hong merchants. At the end of each trading season, they had to leave for Macau or leave China entirely. Although he was able to collect the stores he needed, he could not get permission to take them onto the ship. Fate intervened and his crew won praise for fighting a major fire in the city. An invitation to see the Viceroy on 30 November arrived shortly thereafter.

In an occasion marked by great ceremony, Anson noted through an interpreter the many attempts he had made to secure an audience through intermediaries but since they had been insincere, he had been forced to send his officer to the city gate with a letter to be delivered directly to the Viceroy. The Viceroy assured him that the letter was indeed the first time he had been made aware of Anson's arrival. Anson then explained that the right season for returning to Europe had now arrived, that provisions were ready but he just needed the Viceroy's assent. This was immediately given. No mention was made of the unpaid port fees and Anson believed that a precedent had been set but when the next British warship entered Canton in 1764, it paid normal duties.

Return to England

On 7 December 1743, they sailed from Canton and stopping at Macau, sold the galleon at the heavily discounted price of 6,000 dollars, allowing the Centurion to leave on the 15th. Anson was anxious to reach England before news of the treasure he was carrying reached France or Spain, lest they attempt to intercept him. The ship stopped on 8 January at Prince's Island in the Straits of Sunda between the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java for fresh water and other supplies and reached Cape Town near the Cape of Good Hope on 11 March. He left on 3 April after acquiring additional crew and reached home at Spithead on 15 June 1744, having slipped through fog and thus avoided a French squadron that was cruising the English Channel. Of those on board, 188 were all that remained of the original crews of Centurion, Gloucester, Tryal and Anna. Together with the survivors of Severn, Pearl and Wager, about 500 had survived of the original 1900 that had sailed in September 1740, all but a handful falling to disease or starvation. Anson became a celebrity on his return and was invited to meet the King. When the treasure was paraded through the streets of London it was greeted by huge crowds.

Disputes over prize money ended up in court and turned the officers against one another. The main question was the status of the officers from Gloucester and Tryal once they came aboard the Centurion since Anson had not formally promoted them to be officers on the flagship. By the Admiralty rule books, they lost their rank and were effectively just ordinary seamen, but it seems obvious that without the transfer of experienced officers from the other ships, the Centurion would not have survived the Pacific or been able to capture the galleon. The difference for one officer was receiving either £500 or £6,000 and though the courts initially decided in favour of the officers of the Gloucester and Tryal, they lost on appeal, a decision that may have been influenced by now-Admiral Anson's victory over the French fleet at the Battle of Cape Finisterre.

Anson took three-eighths of the prize money available for distribution from the Covadonga which by one estimate came to £91,000 compared with the £719 he earned as captain during the 3 year 9-month voyage. By contrast, a seaman would have received perhaps £300, although even that amounted to 20 years' wages.

Recording of events

Although several private journals of the voyage had been published, the official version of events was published in London 1748, as A Voyage Round the World in 1740-4 by George Anson Esq, now Lord Anson, Commander-in-Chief of a Squadron of His Majesty's Ships Sent upon an Expedition to the South Seas Compiled from his Papers and Materials by Richard Walter, MA, Chaplain of His Majesty's Ship The Centurion, in that Expedition. It was a great popular and commercial success and a 5th edition was already in print by 1749. As well as detailing the adventures of the expedition, it contained a huge amount of useful information for future navigators and with 42 detailed charts and engravings, most based on drawings by Capt. Piercy Brett, it laid the basis for later scientific and survey expeditions by Captain Cook and others. The final words from the authorized account were:Thus was this expedition finished, when it had lasted three years and nine months, after having, by its event, strongly evinced this important truth: That though prudence, intrepidity, and perseverance united are not exempted from the blows of adverse fortune, yet in a long series of transactions they usually rise superior to its power, and in the end rarely fail of proving successful.

Contested authorship

The identity of the true author of such a successful book has been a matter of controversy. It is claimed as known "mostly only to the eruditi" that the ghost writer, in whole or in part, of the work was the mathematician Benjamin Robins, who had previously written under Anson's patronage on the subject of artillery reform in the Royal Navy. Lord Anson's chaplain Richard Walter (c.1716-1785), who had been a member of the voyage until December 1742, after the fleet's arrival in Macau, was credited as the author on the title page and dedication, having instigated the project, whilst Benjamin Robins is said to have been paid £1,000 for his work. The book however is "unquestionably the work of a man familiar with the daily life on board a ship of war", and according to Laughton (1900) Robins was not such a man, but may have taken a greater or less part in the work of revision, with a definitely ascertained share in the authorship confined to the discussion of the nautical observations in the second volume. That Walter had not been the main author was an assertion disputed by his widow, who stated as follows: During the time of Mr Walter's writing that Voyage he visited me almost daily previous to our marriage, and I have frequently heard him say how closely he had been engaged in writing for some hours to prepare for his constant attendance upon Lord Anson, at six every morning, for his approbation, as his lordship overlooked every sheet that was written. At some of those meetings Mr Robins assisted, as he was consulted in the disposition of the drawings; and I also know that Mr Robins left England - for he was sent to Bergen-op-Zoom some months before the publication of the book - and I have frequently seen Mr Walter correct the proof-sheets for the printer.

Consequences

Anson was compared with Francis Drake and was promoted accordingly, reaching First Lord of the Admiralty in 1751 but he assisted the careers of many of the officers that sailed with him. Immediately after his return though, Anson had promoted Philip Saumarez and Peircy Brett but after the Admiralty refused to confirm Brett, Anson declined his own promotion.

As a direct result of the ambiguous legal situation after the wreck of Wager, the rules were changed to give captains continuing authority over their crew with the crew continuing to be paid. Similarly, after Anson had felt a need to impress the mandarins that came aboard and to distinguish his crew from those of merchant vessels, naval uniforms were introduced. Previously, the officers and seamen made their own arrangements.

The return of Anson's expedition raised interest in the Pacific as an object of British trade and imperial power but given the treacherous conditions around Cape Horn and the Spanish hold of South America, there was hope that an alternative route to the Pacific might be found through the Northwest Passage over the top of North America. An expedition led by Middleton had been mounted while Anson was away but had been blocked by ice. The government offered £20,000 to anyone that could find a navigable route but a private expedition by Moor and Smith in 1746–47 likewise returned empty-handed.

Anson pressed for follow-up expeditions of discovery after peace was reached with Spain but relations between the countries were still delicate and the voyages were canceled for fear of provoking a wider dispute. Spanish charts seized from the Covadonga added many islands to the British charts of the Pacific, and those in the Western North Pacific became known as the Anson Archipelago.

Given the horrific losses to scurvy, it is hard to understand why there was no official investigation into its cause and possible cures. That it could be cured was obvious from the rapid improvements shown by Anson's men after reaching both Juan Fernandez and Tinian. In one of the first world's first controlled experiments, the Scottish physician James Lind made his own investigations on the Salisbury in 1747. Working with twelve victims he separated them into six pairs and tried something different on each pair. The pair that received oranges and lemons showed definite improvement. However, the idea of a nutritional-deficiency disease, and the complex mechanism of action involved in scurvy, were not yet imagined. It would be another 50 years before Lind's conclusion was put into practice, and even longer before the science behind it was understood.

In popular culture

"The Castaway" (1799) by William Cowper

F. Van Wyck Mason's novel, Manila Galleon, is a fictional account of Anson's voyage.

Patrick O'Brian's The Golden Ocean (1956) and The Unknown Shore (1959) both depict fictional pairs of young men loosely based on real seaman who participated in Anson's voyage. In these two novels, O'Brian had a pair of central characters, as he did in the characters of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin in the Aubrey-Maturin series published from 1969 to 2000.