On Wednesday, April 27th at about 11:30 am, we arrived on Isla Wager, or Wager Island. This island is part of the Katalalixar National Reserve, and measures about 10 km x 4 km. It is uninhabited and was the location for one of the most tragic events in Commodore Anson’s fleet’s circumnavigation around the globe. Our helicopter landed on the same stretch of beach that was the home for a number of shipwrecked sailors from the Wager, one of Commodore Anson’s ships.
Like all of the other ships in the fleet, the Wager endured a horrendous journey around Cape Horn in early 1741. To add to her troubles, two of her captains had died since leaving England, and David Cheap was now in charge. Short of temper, and not well-liked by his men, he kept to his cabin for much of the time.
As they had all become scattered after the storms around Cape Horn, the Wager was heading for the first rendezvous point of Socorro Island (now known as Guamblin Island) off the coast of Chile. However on 13 May 1741 they sighted land to the west. This seemed unlikely as the mainland was to the east of them, but without proper charts, they soon realised they had sailed into a large bay with land blocking their passage north. (Note: this bay is now known as The Gulf of Penas - the Gulf of Sorrows.). With so many men weakened by scurvy and starvation they struggled to turn the ship around and it was hit by a large wave broadside causing Cheap to fall down a ladder and dislocate his shoulder. The surgeon gave him opium for the pain and he went to his cabin leaving Lieutenant Baynes in charge. Lashed by the storm and battered by waves, the ship hit the rocks at 4 am. She became stuck, and the crew abandoned the wreck and made for the shore of an island later named Wager Island.
140 men made it ashore, and the next days were spent retrieving as much as they could from the wreck. Cheap made it ashore as well, but failing to maintain discipline and order, he shot a drunken crew member on 10 June, who he refused to let a doctor attend to, and the victim took two weeks to die. By now, there were about 100 men left and they broke into mutinous factions. There were four small boats remaining from the wreck and three courses of action were taken. One group led by Captain Cheap set sail north to try to gain Guamblin Island to rejoin Commodore Anson. Another group lengthened a longboat, and set sail south to sail back to England. And one small group decided to try their luck overland by walking across South America. Unbelievably members of all of these three parties eventually made it back to England, the last to arrive in May 1746, nearly two years after Anson had returned.
There are a number of books that have been written about this, the best of which is The Wager Disaster, Mayhem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas, by Rear Admiral C.H. Layman. For Commodore Anson, he was not to know the fate of the Wager and its crew until he returned to England in June 1744.
For us, it was another poignant moment to walk on the same beach that 279 years ago had shipwrecked sailors from the Wager. There are local historians who have seen planks in the seabed, allegedly from the Wager wreck. But other than this report, there is no other evidence of their enforced stay at Isla Wager.
After spending about 1.5 hours on the beach area, we then refueled our helicopter (see previous blog on how this was done) and flew to Puerto Aysen to refuel again, then La Junta for refueling one more time, before arriving back at Chiloe at around 5 pm.
Quite the most amazing adventure, although I am not keen on doing another 12 hours in the helicopter over two days for a while. My thanks again to our able pilots, Juan Pablo and Francisco, of RotorTec. And to Cyril and Ignacio for keeping our spirits up.