The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex [Paperback]

Owen Chase (Author), Iola Haverstick (Author), Betty Shepard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 1999

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

On November 20, 1820, a sperm whale repeatedly rammed the whaleship Essex, causing her to sink. The 20-man crew were left in three small, open boats in the middle of the Pacific with little food and only 200 gallons of water. Bereft of charts, the boats sailed due east in the hopes of sighting land. Battered by storms, the boats became separated. Some 90 days later, a few men were rescued--but not before they had been forced to make a terrible decision.

I have no language to paint the horrors of our situation. To shed tears was indeed altogether unavailing and withal unmanly; yet I was not able to deny myself the relief they served to afford me.

This harrowing, first-hand account by First Mate Owen Chase was originally published in 1821, just months after he returned home to Nantucket, and the unfortunate Essex and her crew passed into legend. Twenty years after the wreck, young William Chase, Owen's son, was serving on the Lima when it met another whaler called the Acushnet. The crews spent some time together, and Chase told his father's story to 21-year-old Herman Melville, and lent him a copy of his father's book. The story clearly caught Melville's imagination--"The reading of this wondrous story upon the landless sea, and close to the very latitude of the shipwreck had a surprising effect on me"--and ten years later he published Moby Dick. Literary inspiration aside, The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex is a well-told, truly gripping tale. As Gary Kinder (who, as the author of Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea, knows a thing or two about shipwrecks) notes in his introduction, "As you sit in your chair, the subliminal thought recurs: My god, this really happened." --Sunny Delaney

Review

On November 20, 1820, a sperm whale repeatedly rammed the whaleship Essex, causing her to sink. The 20-man crew were left in three small, open boats in the middle of the Pacific with little food and only 200 gallons of water. Bereft of charts, the boats sailed due east in the hopes of sighting land. Battered by storms, the boats became separated. Some 90 days later, a few men were rescued--but not before they had been forced to make a terrible decision. I have no language to paint the horrors of our situation. To shed tears was indeed altogether unavailing and withal unmanly; yet I was not able to deny myself the relief they served to afford me.This harrowing, first-hand account by First Mate Owen Chase was originally published in 1821, just months after he returned home to Nantucket, and the unfortunate Essex and her crew passed into legend. Twenty years after the wreck, young William Chase, Owen's son, was serving on the Lima when it met another whaler called the Acushnet. The crews spent some time together, and Chase told his father's story to 21-year-old Herman Melville, and lent him a copy of his father's book. The story clearly caught Melville's imagination--"The reading of this wondrous story upon the landless sea, and close to the very latitude of the shipwreck had a surprising effect on me"--and ten years later he published Moby Dick. Literary inspiration aside, The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex is a well-told, truly gripping tale. As Gary Kinder (who, as the author of Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea, knows a thing or two about shipwrecks) notes in his introduction, "As you sit in your chair, the subliminal thought recurs: My god, this really happened." (Amazon.com Review - Sunny Delaney )

'this year's equivalent of THE PERFECT STORM' Christopher Frayling in the Observer The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex was reviewed in the Times Metro 15/16 April

The story of the sinking of the whaleship Essex which became the inspiration for Melville's Moby Dick. First published in 1821 this is an eyewitness account from the first mate of the ramming, by a sperm whale of a Nantucket whaler in the South Pacific in November 1820. Twenty sailors made for a few flimsy boats with only scraps of food. The next 90 days of fear and starvation whittled their number down, driving the survivors to confront a powerful taboo to satisfy their hunger. (Kirkus (UK) )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (August 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156006898
• ISBN-13: 978-0156006897
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #687,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Incomplete, August 20, 2002

By 

Mark A. Smiddy (Benton, Kentucky United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex (Paperback)

There's nothing wrong with this book except that there is a more comprehensive collection published by Penguin Classics titled, "The Loss Of The Ship Essex, Sunk By A Whale." The Penguin Classic includes not only Owen Chase's story in his own words but also contains that of Thomas Nickerson a fellow shipmate of the Essex. Nickerson's account has been lost for decades and reading Chase's account alone would be cheating yourself of a real treat since Nickerson is by far the better storyteller.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "My god, this really happened", December 30, 1999

By 

A. J. Watson "Bones" (Newcastle-on-Tyne, UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex (Paperback)

Just imagine the unthinkable:- a whale, that most placid animal, suddenly turns on its tormentors with malice apparent in its intent and within a few minutes, reduces the ship, not the boat that harpooned it, to a sinking wreck, a thousand miles from any land. The subsequent journey to safety of the eight survivors is recounted by the first mate in graphic detail and with great literary skill; you have to admire the fortitude displayed by Mr. Chase in keeping an accurate log, even in the extremes of privation and heat exhaustion, as well as the psychological assault of that ultimate horror (at that time) of cannibalism. Put in their position, would I do the same - absolutely! It speaks volumes that very little was said about the Essex party, whereas the Donner party were unjustly vilified for doing exactly the same thing to preserve the remaining members of their company. I can do no better justice to this book than to quote Gary Kinder:- "...settle back into that overstuffed leather chair and let the most amazing story in the annals of the sea transport you to a different time, a different breed, an experience few could believe...".

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good quick read, June 16, 2000

By 

LaLoren - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex (Paperback)

This is an excellent book to take on a plane or read on a day at the beach. At a little over a hundred pages, it can be read in one sitting, yet it's the narrative of an actual event-the ship wreck that inspired the novel, Moby Dick. Best for me was the glossary in the back that explains some of those terms I always read in those old nautical novels, but never understood.