Owen Chase

Chase, what is the matter? I answered, We have been stove by a whale.

Narrative of the shipwreck of the whale ship Essex of Nantucket, which was attacked and finally destroyed by a large sperm whale in the Pacific Ocean, by Owen Chase of Nantucket, first mate of said vessel.

New York, 1821.

A mariner sat in the shrouds one night.

In 1820, the Essex whaling ship operated in the South Pacific when the crew encountered a massive sperm whale, and this time, the whale did not lose.

According to First Mate Owen Chase, the whale first struck the Essex hard enough to seriously damage the ship, then it moved away and came back.

Chase described the second hit as a full-on charge, with the whale driving its massive head directly into the ship.

The damage was catastrophic, and the Essex began to sink, and the crew was forced to abandon ship.

Can you say cannibalism on YouTube? In one case, they even drew sticks to decide who would be killed so the others could eat.

Only eight of the original 20 men survived.

One of them was Owen Chase, and a year later, Chase published his account of the disaster.

The story of a sperm whale powerful enough to destroy a ship would become one of the major real-life ingredients behind Moby Dick.

Narrative of the shipwreck of the whale ship Essex of Nantucket, which was attacked and finally destroyed by a large sperm whale in the Pacific Ocean.

By Owen Chase of Nantucket, first mate of said vessel.

New York, 1821 Quote A mariner sat in the shrouds one night, the wind was piping free, now bright, now dimmed was the moonlight pale, and the phosphor gleamed in the wake of the whale as it floundered in the sea.

Elizabeth Oakes Smith Quote The quantity of line withdrawn from the boats engaged in the capture of this one whale amounted altogether to 10,440 yards, or nearly six English miles.

For the second time his ship was utterly lost, and forthwith forswearing the sea, he has never tempted it since.

At this day Captain Pollard is a resident of Nantucket.

I have seen Owen Chase, who was chief mate of the Essex at the time of the tragedy.

I have read his plain and faithful narrative.