George Anson's voyage around the world

While Great Britain was fighting the War of Jenkins' Ear with Spain in 1740, Commodore George Anson led a squadron of eight ships on a mission to disrupt or capture the Spanish possessions in the Pacific. He returned to Britain in 1744 by way of China, thereby completing a circumnavigation of the globe. The voyage was notable for the capture of the Manila galleon and for its horrific losses due to powerful storms and disease, with only 188 men of the original 1,854 crew and officers surviving. An account of the voyage was published in 1748. It was widely read by the general public and was a great commercial success. It has been described in 1899 as being "still esteemed as the story of a remarkable voyage extremely well told."