Narrative of the most extraordinary and distressing shipwreck of the whale-ship Essex, of Nantucket : which was attacked and finally destroyed by a large spermaceti-whale, in the Pacific Ocean : with an account of the unparalleled sufferings of the captain and crew during a space of ninety-three days at sea, in open boats, in the years 1819 & 1820

Authors

Owen Chase
Paul Royster, ed., University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Book

Date of this Version

10-1821

Citation

Chase, O. 1821. Narrative of the most extraordinary and distressing shipwreck of the whale-ship Essex, of Nantucket .... New York, 1821.

Comments

An electronic facsimile of the 1821 book, which is in the public domain.

Abstract

On November 20, 1820, the whale-ship Essex, out of Nantucket, was twice rammed by a sperm whale and sank in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The crew of twenty took refuge in three open whale-boats, and attempted to sail east toward the coasts of South America. The boats were eventually separated by storms and darkness, and after more than 90 days two of them, holding five survivors, were picked up by other ships; the third boat was never found.

First mate Owen Chase dictated this account of the fateful voyage, published in New York four months after his return to Nantucket. His Narrative describes the attack and its aftermath, and the more than 5,000-mile journey in open boats that claimed the lives of twelve men under gruesome and horrifying conditions.

The book was known by Herman Melville and provided inspiration and detail for his ambitious novel Moby-Dick. This document provides a page-by-page reconstruction of the 1821 original, with the addition of a map and a few brief notes.