The Wreck Of The Whaleship Essex

On the morning of November 20, 1820, in the Pacific Ocean, an enraged sperm whale rammed the Nantucket whaler Essex. As the boat began to sink, her crew of thirty had time only to collect some bread and water before pulling away in three frail open boats. Without charts, alone on the open seas, and thousands of miles from any known land, the sailors began their terrifying journey of survival. Ninety days later, after much suffering and death by starvation, intense heat, and dehydration, only eight men survived to reach land. One of them was Owen Chase, first mate of the ill-fated ship, whose account of the long and perilous journey has become a classic of endurance and human courage. The elements of his tale inspired Herman Melville (who was born the year the Essex sank) to write the classic Moby Dick. A gallant saga of the sea, this riveting narration of life and death, of man against the deep, will enthrall readers.

The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex

Literature & Fiction

Owen. Chase

History & Criticism

HARCOURT, BRACE

Shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex is the gripping story of a ship's encounter with a great white whale and the crew's harrowing plight for survival on the open seas. On 20 November 1820 the Essex was rammed by a sperm whale and sank in mid-Pacific. This book contains first mate's Owen Chase's original 1821 narrative, as well as two others written by the captain and a shipmate of the Essex. Each tells of the whale's attack, the sinking of the ship, and the three dreadful months that followed as the remainder of the crew were left stranded in a few small open boats in the South Seas. Of the twenty men that escaped the ship, eight survived; and they did so only by resorting to cannibalism.Capturing all the elements of an ancient and powerful tragedy, this book is a thrilling tale of survival - as well as a frightful example of man's darkest impulses - which allows the reader a gruesome glimpse behind the theatrical veil of honour and bravery that history often ascribes to such men of the sea. 'The reading of this wondrous story had a surprising effect upon me,' wrote Herman Melville on reading Owen Chase's narrative. An age-old gem of maritime lore, this story has made its mark as an inspiration for Moby Dick, one of the most legendary novels ever written.

Shipwreck of the Whaleship 'Essex

Travel

Pimlico

THE WRECK OF THE WHALESHIP ESSEX: A FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT OF ONE OF HISTORY'S MOST EXTRAORDINARY MARITIME DISASTERS., BY OWEN CHASE, FIRST MATE.

The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex. A First-Hand Account of One of History's Most Extraordinary Maritime Disasters by Owen Chase, First Mate

Biographies & Memoirs

Headline

Mysteries Of Angels

The inspiration for Herman Melville's Moby Dick, a sperm whale rammed and sank the whaling ship Essex in 1820, casting its crew into open boats for a three-month ordeal during which they resorted to cannibalism to sustain themselves. This book includes first mate Owen Chase's account, the testimony of two other survivors and facsimiles of notes made by Melville on Chase's story. (Contains material previously published in The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex.)

Shipwreck Of The Whaleship Essex: The true story that inspired the film In the Heart of the Sea

Historical

Vintage Classics

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Books by Owen. Chase