The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex (Paperback)

by Owen Chase (Narrator), Iola Haverstick (Author), Betty Shepard (Author) "The town of Nantucket, in the State of Massachusetts, contains about eight thousand inhabitants..." (more)
Key Phrases: second mate, Easter Island, Captain Pollard, Charles Ramsdell (more...)

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
'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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Harvest 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 (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #740,798 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 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 (REAL NAME)

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.

10 of 10 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 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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harrowing, well-written, and true., April 9, 2000

By	Joseph T. Reeves (Fort Meade, MD USA) - See all my reviews

"The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex" is much more than just the inspiration for Herman Melville's "Moby Dick." It stands alone as a remarkable account of survival in a hostile environment. It's probably difficult for modern readers to truly grasp the impact First Mate Owen Chase felt when his ship the Essex sank in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, leaving 20 men to fend for themselves in three frail whaling boats. In 1820, the loss of the ship meant that Chase and his men were truly on their own. His account and shock reflect the enormity of what losing a ship meant to these men. The ship was their world and without it, they faced an ardorous journey. Chase also accurately captures the shock of seeing a whale attack his ship twice. An experienced whaler, Chase watched dumbfounded as a creature he always thought to be gentle and placid appear to deliberately sink the Essex.

Chase has managed to balance these feelings of anguish and fear with determination to survive. His story also vividly recounts a bygone time when Nantucket whalers seemed to own the seas, and industry at home depended on the oil these men brought back. We seem to forget that whaling and its fruits were an essential part of early American commerace and life. This book puts Chase's account of his survival clearly in context with its times. Highly recommended.