HMS Wager (1739)

Charles Brooking's 1744 painting of HMS Wager in extremis, based on the Bulkeley's published journal
History
Great Britain
NameWager
OwnerHugh Raymond[1]
OperatorEast India Company
BuilderBuxton, Rotherhithe[1]
Launched12 March 1734[1]
FateSold to the Royal Navy in 1739
Great Britain
NameHMS Wager
Cost£3,912 2sd
AcquiredPurchased on 21 November 1739
CommissionedDecember 1739
FateWrecked off Chile on 14 May 1741
General characteristics [2]
Class and typeSixth rate
Tons burthen551,[1] or 5588294 (bm)
Length123 ft (37.5 m) (gundeck); 101 ft 4+18 in (30.9 m)
Beam32 ft 2+38 in (9.8 m)
Depth of hold14 ft 4 in (4.4 m)
Sail planShip rig
Complement
  • East India Company: 98 men
  • Royal Navy: 160 men
Armament28 guns

HMS Wager was a square-rigged sixth-rate Royal Navy ship of 28 guns. It was built as an East Indiaman in about 1734 and made two voyages to India for the East India Company before the Royal Navy purchased her in 1739. It formed part of a squadron under Commodore George Anson and was wrecked on the south coast of Chile on 14 May 1741. The wreck of Wager became famous for the subsequent adventures of the survivors who found themselves marooned on the desolate Wager Island in the middle of a Patagonian winter, and in particular because of the Wager Mutiny that followed.

  1. ^ a b c d Hackman (2001), p. 209.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference RW1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).