Wager Mutiny (1741)

[corsair91]

Wager Mutiny (1741)

A somewhat currently lesser known mutiny compared to
that on HMS bounty


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wager_Mutiny
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Wager_(1739)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cheap
Captain of HMS Wager

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Byron
Midshipman John Byron on HMS Wager,
later Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bulkeley_(Royal_Navy_gunner)
British seaman, best known for leading survivors of the wreck of HMS Wager to safety.


HMS Wager was wrecked on a desolate island off the south coast of
present-day Chile in 1741.

The main body of the crew mutinied against their captain, David Cheap, abandoned him and a group of loyal crew members on the island
and set off in a modified schooner (named Speedwell) via the Strait of Magellan to Portuguese administered Rio de Janeiro.

Most of the mutineers either died or were abandoned on shore
during the journey, but the survivors eventually returned to England.



Previously unpublished letter casts new light on mutiny aboard HMS Wager
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/29/unpublished-letter-mutiny-hms-wager-royal-navy

https://www.modelerscentral.com/maritime-history/hms-wager-1739-shipwreck/

http://bulkleyblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/wager.html



Wager Mutiny Movie, currently in pre-production
(reportedly Director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12067813/Martin-Scorsese-tell-story-HMS-Wager-mutinous-crew-turned-cannibalism.html

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1717262/leonardo-dicaprio-hms-wager-martin-scorsese-hollywood

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/07/martin-scorsese-and-leonardo-dicaprio-prepare-to-get-salty-with-the-wager

https://filmschoolrejects.com/the-wager-real-story-scorsese/


The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21402698/
(Pre-production - Source Novel Title, subject to change)


https://www.world-archaeology.com/world/south-america/chile/wager-wreck/

https://explorethearchive.com/the-wager-mutiny


https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-wager-david-grann-book-excerpt
David Grann’s book,
“The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder.”

https://www.wired.com/story/david-grann-the-wager-book-excerpt/

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/may/14/the-wager-by-david-grann-review-a-rollicking-and-nuanced-history-of-the-high-seas



David Grann on 'The Wager'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8-bqxUFEzA

runtime 1:01:20

Author David Grann talks about his latest book "The Wager."

[corsair91]

The Wreck of the "Wager" (1768)
John Byron
https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20221149


Byron's Narrative of the Loss of the Wager
by John Byron
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44193

Byron's Narrative of the Loss of the Wager,
With an account of the great distresses suffered by himself
and his companions on the coast of Patagonia from the year
1740 till their arrival in England 1746


1743
A voyage to the South-Seas, in the years 1740-1 :
containing, a faithful narrative of the loss of His Majesty's ship
the Wager on a desolate island in the latitude 47 south,
longitude 81 : 40 west ...
by Bulkeley, John; Cummins, John

https://archive.org/details/voyagetosouthsea00bulk

account of the mutiny published in 1743
by two of the mutineers, the gunner John Bulkeley
and John Cummins, the ship’s carpenter.


In 1740, Commodore George Anson was commissioned to capture or disrupt Spanish colonies in the Pacific Ocean. Setting off from Portsmouth, the squadron almost immediately met with disaster. The great number of provisions (including almost £15,000 worth of trade goods) and cramped conditions meant that the food rotted and disease was rampant. By the time they reached Brazil, the ships required deep cleaning and repairs. Bad weather then hampered the crossing of the Magellan Strait and soon the fleet had been scattered.

In May 1741, one of the ships, HMS Wager was wrecked off the coast of Chile and the captain, David Cheap, in strict observance of Admiralty regulations, refused to pay wages to the wrecked seamen but still expected the men to work. He also began to arm himself with pistols and on 10 June 1741, Cheap shot a drunken sailor. He refused the man treatment and the sailor suffered for two weeks before dying. This lost Cheap most of his support, discontent began to rise, and the crew mutinied. They split into two groups, the mutineers deciding to sail back through the Magellan Strait, while the captain’s group favoured a northward voyage in the hopes of rendezvousing with Anson.

The mutineers navigated the Magellan Strait and returned to Brazil where they managed to gain passage back to Europe aboard a Portuguese ship. However, only 29 of the crew made it back to England. This account of the mutiny was published in 1743 by two of the mutineers, the gunner John Bulkeley and John Cummins, the ship’s carpenter.

In 1744, the surviving members of the captain’s party reached Santiago where they arranged for passage to Europe aboard a French ship. The midshipman, John Byron (1723-86), subsequently published his own account of the events in which he defended Cheap’s actions.

[corsair91]

Dead Reckoning
https://www.damninteresting.com/dead-reckoning/

The 18th century misadventures of HMS Wager and her reluctant crew

Podcast
Written by Alan Bellows

[corsair91]

The Quest for HMS Wager
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao_E3XGOmuQ

runtime 1:08:09

In 2006 The Scientific Exploration Society launched an expedition to seek the wreck of HMS Wager, lost during the War of Jenkins’ Ear in 1741 and to carry out community aid and scientific tasks in this remote area of Chilean Patagonia. The story of the wreck is one of the great sagas of the sea.

The introduction picture of HMS Wager is courtesy of Alan Bellows