HMS Centurion Completes Anson's Circumnavigation
Poet involved
What happened
HMS Centurion returned to England in 1744 as the sole surviving ship of George Anson's expedition around the world. Disease, storms and shipwreck had killed most of the original crews, although the capture of a Spanish treasure galleon made the voyage immensely profitable. The expedition became a celebrated story of endurance and naval power.
Literary impact
William Cowper based The Castaway on the account of a sailor swept from one of Anson's ships and abandoned in the Atlantic. The poem transformed a maritime incident into a bleak psychological image of isolation, despair and perceived spiritual abandonment.
Source: Wikipedia
