On April 15, 1746, the court-martial convenes aboard the Prince George with full naval pomp under president Sir James Steuart and twelve senior officers. Though George Anson does not attend, his rise to the Admiralty and support for David Cheap loom over proceedings. The defendants must represent themselves but can call witnesses.

Beforehand, defendants file statements on the wreck. John Bulkeley protests not knowing his charges but is told the inquiry concerns only the loss of the Wager. Questioned first, Captain David Cheap levels a single charge against Lieutenant Baynes for not reporting land sighted by the carpenter, Cummins; he acquits all others of blame for the wreck.

Bulkeley, sensing the court’s narrow scope, withholds his published accusations and says he has nothing to charge against any officer. Cummins and the boatswain, King—both central to the island revolt—echo that they have nothing against Cheap regarding the loss. John Byron is asked only technical questions. Baynes defends himself, saying he mistook the sighting for cloud.

After a brief adjournment, the court unanimously finds that Cheap did his duty and used all means to preserve the Wager. All are absolved regarding the wreck except Baynes, who is reprimanded. Bulkeley celebrates his “honourable” acquittal, and Cheap, denied retribution, nonetheless retains his captaincy and escapes punishment.

No further charges follow: no rulings on murder, mutiny, desertion, or insubordination. The Admiralty relies on a regulatory ambiguity about pay after shipwreck to avoid prosecuting the island upheaval, protecting imperial image and obscuring wartime disasters. The chapter traces the War of Jenkins’ Ear’s costly failures and murky origins, underscoring incentives to suppress scandal. The Wager inquiry is closed; Cheap’s deposition disappears, leaving, as historians note, “the mutiny that never was.”