The Disaster of the Whaleship Essex

by Owen Chase

Overview

In 1819, the American whaler Essex was sailing deep into the great equatorial hunting grounds of the Pacific when it was destroyed by a maddened sperm whale. By all reports, the 85-foot whale deliberately rammed the ship twice and sank it. The incident, which occurred in the same year that Herman Melville was born, became a primary source of inspiration for Moby-Dick. Indeed, much of the detail and color in the final chapter of Melville's work is drawn directly from these three eyewitness accounts. The book also served as the basis for the 2015 movie In the Heart of the Sea, directed by Ron Howard and starring Chris Hemsworth.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940161358979
Publisher:	Black Lizard Press
Publication date:	07/20/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Owen Chase (October 7, 1797 – March 7, 1869) was first mate of the whaler Essex, which a sperm whale rammed and sank on 20 November 1820. Chase wrote about the incident in Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. This book, published in 1821, would inspire Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick. Chase was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, the son of Phebe (Meader) and Judah Chase.