George Anson , 1st Baron Anson Admiral of the Fleet George Anson , 1st Baron Anson PC , FRS , RN ( 23 April 1697 – 6 June 1762 ) was a British admiral and a wealthy aristocrat , noted for his circumnavigation of the globe and his role overseeing the Royal Navy during the Seven Years ' War . During his time in office Anson instituted a series of reforms to the Royal Navy . Family and early career . George ' s father was William Anson of Shugborough in Staffordshire and his mother was Isabella Carrier , who was the sister - in - law of Thomas Parker , 1st Earl of Macclesfield , the Lord Chancellor , a relationship that proved very useful to the future admiral . George Anson entered the navy in February 1712 , and by rapid steps became lieutenant in 1716 , commander in 1722 , and post - captain in 1724 . In this rank , he served twice on the North American station as captain of and of from 1724 to 1730 and from 1733 to 1735 . In 1737 he gained the command of the 60 - gun ship of the line , . In 1740 , on the eve of the War of the Austrian Succession ( 1740 – 1748 ) , he became commander ( with the rank of commodore ) of the squadron sent to attack Spanish possessions in South America in the War of Jenkins ' Ear . Voyage around the world . The expedition failed to carry out its original ambitious scheme . Anson ' s ill - equipped squadron sailed later than intended , with only six warships : ( flagship ) , , , , , and the sloop " Tryal " , plus the two store ships and " Industry " . Successive disasters eventually reduced his force to just " Centurion " . Two of his vessels , " Pearl " and " Severn " , failed to round the Horn and returned home . was wrecked off the coast of Chile , where the crew subsequently mutinied ( see the Wager Mutiny ) . The lateness of the season forced him to round Cape Horn in very stormy weather , and the navigating instruments of the time did not allow for exact observations . By the time Anson reached the island of Juan Fernández in June 1741 , only three of his six ships remained , while the strength of his crews had fallen from 961 to 335 . In the absence of any effective Spanish force on the coast , he was able to harass the enemy and to sack the small port city of Paita in Peru ( 13 – 15 November 1741 ) . The steady decrease of his crew by scurvy , and the worn - out state of his remaining consorts , compelled him to collect all the remaining survivors in " Centurion " . He rested at the island of Tinian , and then made his way to Macau in November 1742 . After considerable difficulties with the Chinese , he sailed again with his one remaining vessel to cruise in search of one of the richly laden Manila galleon s that conducted the trade between Mexico and the Philippines . The indomitable perseverance he had shown during one of the most arduous voyages in the history of sea adventure gained the reward of the capture of an immensely rich prize , " Nuestra Señora de Covadonga " , possessing 1 , 313 , 843 pieces of eight , which he encountered off Cape Espiritu Santo on 20 June 1743 . Anson took his prize back to Macau , sold her cargo to the Chinese , and sailed for England , which he reached via the Cape of Good Hope on 15 June 1744 . The prize money earned by the capture of the galleon had made him a rich man for life , and it enabled his heirs to rebuild Shugborough Hall , the family estate . Anson ' s chaplain , Richard Walter , recorded the circumnavigation , which he included in " A Voyage Round the World " published in 1748 . It is , " written in brief , perspicuous terms " , wrote Thomas Carlyle in his " History of Friedrich II " , " a real poem in its kind , or romance all fact ; one of the pleasantest little books in the world ' s library at this time " . Battle of Cape Finisterre . Anson was Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Hedon in Yorkshire from 1744 to 1747 . He took command of the Channel Fleet in July 1746 in succession to Admiral Martin . In May 1747 , he commanded the fleet that defeated the French Admiral de la Jonquière at the First Battle of Cape Finisterre , capturing four ships of the line , two frigate s and seven merchantmen . In consequence , Anson became very popular , and was promoted to Vice Admiral and elevated to the peerage as Lord Anson , Baron of Soberton , in the County of Southampton . First Lord of the Admiralty . Anson subsequently continued his naval career with distinction as an administrator , joining the Admiralty Board in December 1744 , then becoming First Lord of the Admiralty from June 1751 to November 1756 , and again from June 1757 until his death . Among his reforms were the transfer of the Marines from Army to Navy authority , uniforms for commissioned officers , devising a way to effectively get superannuated Captains and Admirals to retire on half - pay and submitting a revision of the Articles of War to Parliament which tightened discipline throughout the Navy . During Anson ' s period at the Admiralty they maintained a much larger peacetime fleet than had previously been allowed , largely due to the likelihood of imminent war Seven Years War . Loss of Minorca . He oversaw the Navy for much of the Seven Years War , and established a permanent squadron at Devonport which could patrol the western approaches to both Britain and France . He was particularly concerned at the prospect of a French invasion of the British Isles which led him to keep a large force in the English Channel . In 1756 he was criticised for not sending enough ships with Admiral Byng to relieve Minorca because he wanted to protect Britain from a threatened invasion , only to see Byng fail to save Minorca while no invasion attempt materialised . This led to him briefly leaving the Admiralty , but he returned to the post within a few months following the creation of the Second Newcastle Ministry . Anson instituted a massive expansion of the Royal Navy , resulting in record numbers of ships and of men . French Invasion plans . Anson oversaw Britain ' s naval response to a more serious French invasion attempt in 1759 . He instituted a close blockade of the French coast , which proved crippling to the French economy and ensured no invasion fleet could slip out undetected . The British victories at the Battle of Lagos and the Battle of Quiberon Bay destroyed any realistic hope of a major invasion of the British Isles , although a small force landed on the Irish coast . Global expeditions . As well as securing home defence , Anson co - ordinated with Pitt a series of British attacks on French colonies around the globe . By 1760 the British had captured Canada , Senegal and Guadeloupe from the French , and followed it up by capturing Belle Île and Dominica in 1761 . In 1762 the entry of Spain into the war offered further chances for British expeditions . Anson was the architect of a plan to capture Havana and seize Manila in the Philippines . Anson had been concerned that the combined strength of the French and Spanish navies would overpower Britain , but he still threw himself into the task of directing these expeditions . The British also captured Martinique and Grenada in the French West Indies . In June 1761 he was advanced to the post of Admiral of the Fleet . By this stage , Anson had grown very ill . He retired to Bath where he died . He is buried at St Michael and All Angels Church in Colwich , a short distance from Shugborough Hall , where he is also commemorated by a wall tablet next to the altar . Legacy . Seven British warships have borne the name in his honour , as well as the Avro Anson aircraft of the RAF . Anson , Maine ; Anson County , North Carolina ; and the Ansonborough neighborhood in Charleston , South Carolina are named in Anson ' s honour , as well as a school house named at The Royal Hospital School . A full - length novel by F . Van Wyck Mason , " Manila Galleon " , ( 1961 ) recounts the entire voyage of George Anson ' s expedition , including his flotilla ' s harrowing efforts to round the Horn , and the eventual success of " Centurion " in capturing the Manila Galleon .