Lord Anson's navigation

On 18 September 1740 Lord George Anson sailed on a daring mission from Portsmouth to disrupt Spanish shipping and capture some of her Pacific assets. His squadron consisted of six vessels with the Centurion, which had been built in Portsmouth in 1732, as its flagship. When Anson returned to Portsmouth in 1844, having circumnavigated the globe, only 188 of the original 1854 men returned with him mainly due to horrific losses from diseases such as scurvy. They had however captured a Spanish galleon, the Covadonga, which was carrying 1,313,843 pieces of eight and 35,682 ounces of silver. Anson took three-eighths of the prize money which by one estimate came to £91,000 compared with the £719 he earned as captain during the 3 year 9 month voyage. He became an overnight national celebrity and was promoted to First Lord of the Admiralty in 1751. From here he assisted many of the officers that sailed with him with illustrious careers such as Philip Saumarez and Augustus Keppel. Another legacy of the voyage was the discovery of the breadfruit plant which later inspired sending HMS Bounty on the voyage during which the famous mutiny occurred. To find out more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Anson%27s_voyage_around_the_world