HMS Wager (1739)
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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 purch
"The Wreck of the Wager", the frontispiece from John Byron's account
John Byron
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Vice-Admiral of the White John Byron was a Royal Navy officer, explorer, and colonial administrator. He earned the nickname "Foul-Weather Jack" in the British press due to his frequent encounters with
HMS Wager (1739)
…Wager Island in position in Guayaneco Archipelago. A nearby island just to the west is named Byron Island (es:Isla Byron), in honour of loyal midshipman John Byron. Order collapsed once it became clear that the ship was doomed; a large party of men raided the liquor supply and officers' quarters, drinking and…
Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1759
The mythical Pepys Island, which Byron searched for in 1764–1765. Illustration by William Hacke, 1699.
John Byron Death Notice