Townley first appeared in the Pacific in March 1685 with 180 men aboard two captured Spanish ships, where he met up with a portion of
William Knight's crew. Early the next year they joined forces with French corsairs under
Francois Grogniet and
Jean L’Escuyer, who had recently joined with another English contingent under
Charles Swan in
Cygnet and
Edward Davis in ''Batchelor's Delight''. Near
Acapulco Swan and Townley attempted to capture a treasure galleon from
Manila but found it too well protected and were forced to withdraw. After this unprofitable foray with Swan, Townley's force sailed back south alone and raided
Granada alongside Grogniet's flotilla before the group again broke up. Having had little success under Grogniet, some of the French sailors elected to join Townley. That July they sacked
Panama, taking fantastic treasure but losing much of it to a Spanish counterattack. In August the Spanish launched a surprise assault on Townley's forces at sea but were badly defeated. Townley executed more prisoners and the Spanish paid a large ransom, but Townley, wounded in the previous engagement, soon died. After his body was cast overboard the buccaneers elected
George D’Hout to be their new commander. ==See also==