No wonder the historical novelist Patrick O’Brian chose the story of the Wager as the basis for his first book,The Unknown Shore. The true story,meanwhile,is recounted with impressive dexterity and velocity in David Grann’s book.
Led by a capricious captain who was to murder one of his subordinates in cold blood,the already restive crew of the Wager were washed ashore with little food in appalling weather conditions on one of the most remote islands on Earth. Somehow a few of them – each of the opposing sides in the mutiny was represented – managed to make their way back to England.
Britain and Spain were at war. The Wager,a modified civilian freighter less than 50 metres long and carrying a crew of 250,formed part of a squadron tasked with capturing Spanish ships and looting the treasure they carried.
The Spanish themselves were busy plundering their South American colonies. Due to bad luck and poor management,the Wager fell behind the squadron and sight of the ship was lost. The ill-fated crew thus missed out on a share of seized treasure estimated by Grann to be the equivalent of $80 million today.
Grann hasn’t only researched the minutiae of 18th-century British naval history. There is an array of literary authorities,including authors with real maritime experience such as Conrad and Melville. Also featured is the 18th-century novelist Tobias Smollett,who served as a naval surgeon’s mate. One of the junior officers on the Wager was the grandfather of the poet Lord Byron.