In April 1743, with only the Centurion left and the fates of the Wager, Pearl, and Severn uncertain, Anson presses on despite scurvy, ship losses, and thousands dead. After a castaway scare on a deserted Pacific island, he reunites with the Centurion and continues across the Pacific, determined to salvage the expedition and his reputation.

In China, Anson feigns a homeward course, then reveals his true aim: to intercept the Manila galleon. He drills his depleted crew mercilessly and stations off Cape Espiritu Santo, Samar. Weeks of tense waiting end on June 20 when sails appear. The Centurion clears for action as Anson chooses to fight only on the starboard side, with two-man loading teams and roving ignition squads, and places sharpshooters in the tops.

A storm masks the approach until the ships close to pistol shot. At one p.m. Anson orders fire. Muskets from the tops rake the exposed Spanish decks while the Centurion’s staggered gunnery maintains a continuous barrage. Amid carnage and fires briefly threatening both ships, the British plug shot holes and carry wounded below, where surgeon George Allen amputates under bombardment.

Exploiting the Covadonga’s narrow gunports, Anson crosses her wake and lies nearly perpendicular, his heavier balls smashing the hull while chain shot cripples rigging. Commander Gerónimo Montero is wounded; Spanish officers fall; panic spreads. After ninety minutes, the galleon surrenders. Boarding parties find decks strewn with bodies and, below, a fortune in silver, gold dust, and plate—the richest naval prize yet seized by a Briton.

On June 15, 1744, Anson returns to England in triumph, parading treasure through London; seamen receive about £300 each and Anson £90,000, bolstering national morale and overshadowing the Wager scandal. In March 1746, however, Captain David Cheap arrives at Dover with Thomas Hamilton and John Byron, promising the scandal’s return to public view.