In 1740, His Majesty's Ship The Wager set sail from England on a secret mission to intercept a Spanish treasure ship off the coast of Chile. The ship was crewed by a motley assortment of men, including sailors, soldiers, and a teenage midshipman named John Byron (grandfather of the poet).

The voyage was long and arduous, and the crew was soon exhausted and sick. When the ship finally reached Cape Horn, it was battered by a storm and wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia.

The survivors were stranded on the island for months, facing starvation and exposure. They eventually built a raft and set sail for Chile, but the journey was treacherous and many of them died.

The survivors who made it to Chile were greeted as heroes, but their ordeal was not over. They were court-martialed for mutiny, and several of them were hanged.