In 1819, the American whaler Essex was sailing deep into the great equatorial hunting grounds of the Pacific when it was destroyed by a maddened sperm whale. By all reports, the 85-foot whale deliberately rammed the ship twice and sank it. The incident, which occurred in the same year that Herman Melville was born, became a primary source of inspiration for Moby-Dick. Indeed, much of the detail and color in the final chapter of Melville's work is drawn directly from these three eyewitness accounts. The book also served as the basis for the 2015 movie In the Heart of the Sea, directed by Ron Howard and starring Chris Hemsworth. The harrowing events are described in detail by the first mate, Owen Chase, and corroborated in all essentials by both the captain, George Pollard, and the second mate, Thomas Chappel. Although the ship sank quickly after the attack, the horror lingered for months, and ended in cannibalism as the survivors drifted helplessly in small boats across thousands of miles of open sea. These three narratives are reprinted from a rare limited edition. An introduction traces the incorporation of the real-life incident into Melville's fictional re-creation, and twelve beautiful wood engravings add a further note of drama.

Narratives of the Wreck of the Whale-Ship Essex

Literature & Fiction

Chase, Owen

Literary

Dover Publications

VG condition first edition book with dust jacket. Unclipped DJ is clean, has fresh colours and has little wear to edges. Book has clean and bright contents, no markings or inscriptions.

The Wreck of the Whaleship 'Essex' : A Narrative Account

Constable Young Books

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

History & Criticism

Mariner Books

Owen Chase was the first mate on the Essex, the Nantucket whaler that was holed and sunk in 1820 by an enraged sperm whale twice ramming the ship. With no charts and few provisions, the crew escaped on three lifeboats; months later, having resorted to cannibalism, only eight men had survived. Chase's account evokes the terror of the attack and the men's endurance on the open Pacific Ocean, a 'gallant saga' which inspired Melville to write Moby Dick. Chase's narrative was originally published in 1821.

The Wreck of the Whaleship 'Essex : A First-Hand Account of One of History's Most Extraordinary Maritime Disasters

Headline/Review

Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex: The Complete Illustrated Edition: The Extraordinary and Distressing Memoir That Inspired Herman Melville's Moby-Dick

Read Owen Chase's memoir which inspired Moby-Dick and In the Heart of the Sea, the major motion picture from Ron Howard,released December 2015.
Owen Chase was the first mate on the ill-fated American whaling ship Essex, which was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in the southern Pacific Ocean in 1820. The crew spent months at sea in leaking boats and endured the blazing sun, attacks by killer whales, and lack of food. The men were forced to resort to cannibalism before the final eight survivors were rescued. Herman Melville based his 1851 novel, Moby-Dick, on the sinking.
Chase recorded the tale of the ship's sinking and the following events with harrowing clarity in the Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex.
"I turned around and saw him about one hundred rods [500 m or 550 yards] directly ahead of us, coming down with twice his ordinary speed of around 24 knots (44 km/h), and it appeared with tenfold fury and vengeance in his aspect. The surf flew in all directions about him with the continual violent thrashing of his tail. His head about half out of the water, and in that way he came upon us, and again struck the ship." - Owen Chase.
Filled with art, photographs, maps, and artifacts, this is a richly illustrated edition of Chase's memoir, augmented with memoirs of other participants, as well as the perspectives of historians, contemporary and modern.
"If you are interested in a coffee-table book which covers the importance of the whaling industry and the wreck that influenced Herman Melville to write the American classic Moby-Dick, then get the Complete Illustrated Edition: Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex." - William Connery, Author of Civil War Northern Virginia 1861

History

Americas

Zenith Press

Owen Chase's memoir of the sinking of the Essex by a whale, which inspired Herman Melville's epic Moby-Dick and the film In The Heart of the Sea. Owen Chase was the first mate on the ill-fated American whaling ship Essex, which was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in the southern Pacific Ocean in 1820. The crew spent months at sea in leaking boats and endured the blazing sun, attacks by killer whales, and lack of food. The men were forced to resort to cannibalism before the final eight survivors were rescued. Chase recorded the tale of the ship's sinking and the following events with harrowing clarity in the Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex: "I turned around and saw him about one hundred rods [500 m or 550 yards] directly ahead of us, coming down with twice his ordinary speed of around 24 knots (44 km/h), and it appeared with tenfold fury and vengeance in his aspect. The surf flew in all directions about him with the continual violent thrashing of his tail. His head about half out of the water, and in that way he came upon us, and again struck the ship." Filled throughout with period and contemporary art, photographs, maps, and artifacts, this is a beautifully illustrated edition of a classic American memoir, augmented with the writings of other participants, as well as the perspectives of period and contemporary historians.

Travel

The Shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex is the harrowing narrative of an unfortunate vessel’s calamitous encounter with a great white whale, and the crew’s perilous fight for survival on the open sea. This Explorer’s Club edition faithfully reproduces Owen Chase’s original 1821 narrative, in which he chronicles the great whale’s attack on the ship, the Essex’s subsequent sinking, and the more than exhausting months at sea that followed, in which the fraction of the crew that survived desperately clung to life. Struggling against a relentless sea, the insufferable climate, and ever-increasing hunger, Chase was one of only eight crew members who survived the ordeal. Evocating all of the passion and terror of the greatest adventure stories, The Shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex is a thrilling tale that captures both man and beast’s most shocking and raw natural impulses. Filled with terror and suspense, it is no wonder that the great American novelist, Herman Melville, chose it as his inspiration for one of the most iconic works of literature in American history.

Shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex: The True Narrative that Inspired Herman Melville's Moby-Dick

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Skyhorse Publishing

In one of the most spellbinding accounts of men who go down to the sea in ships, the modern reader is given a seat in the whale boat of Owen Chase as he and his fellow crew and their Captain make way in three boats after the wreckage of the Whaleship Essex. The account of how the Essex was wrecked inspired the infamous book Moby Dick and countless movies, including the newest, In the Heart of the Sea. The perils of sea, storms, nefarious intent of evil men and fate combined to bring an end to a long whaling voyage – typically hard and grueling enough without suffering an attack by a furious and vengeful sperm whale. The story, told in a first-person narrative by Owen Chase, the first mate of the Essex, was first published in 1821 and served to inspire Herman Melville to write his fictional book of the attack by the whale. The perseverance and determination of the crew, mate, and captain to use each and every tool and morsel available to them in salvage from the wrecked Essex to outfit their flimsy whaleboats for a voyage of more than 2,500 miles back to the South American coast is remarkable in many ways. Every ounce of energy and civility rapidly evaporated after two months at sea. The story not told by Melville may be the best part though the attack by the whale is still impressive if one imagines being on the small ship as the leviathan repeatedly bashes in the hull. In addition to the stirring account by Owen Chase are parts of the account by cabin boy Thomas Nickerson. Nickerson returned to the seas on whale ships following the Essex shipwreck, one of just a few known to have been sunk by a whale. After he retired to running a boarding house in Nantucket was when Nickerson finally wrote his account of the Essex and the plight of the crew. Nickerson only put pen to paper when challenged by a visiting author. When the writer, Leon Lewis, escaping from his creditors, became acquainted with Nickerson, he encouraged him to write down his tale of the incredible shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex. Nickerson did so and entrusted the manuscript to the erstwhile writer who promised to get it published and then fled to England. Over one hundred years later the Nickerson account The Loss of the Ship "Essex" Sunk by a Whale and the Ordeal of the Crew in Open Boats; was discovered in an old trunk and authenticated by the Nantucket Historical Association and published in 1984, a century after Nickerson wrote it. Nickerson’s story told of the incredible attack on the Essex while two of the whaleboats were in the hunt to harpoon their prey. The first attack crashed the vessel and rocked it hard. Then, Nickerson wrote that the monster whale turned and rammed the Essex again, causing it to heave, break apart and sink. The crew began their search for land and eventually found a small island that was rather poor in resources. The sailors, with the exception of three men who decided to stay on the island, left in search of a better island, the mainland or perhaps a ship. Chase described how during the 90-day journey to the coast of Chile, the men were forced to eat one of their fellow sailors who had died. Nickerson was less than specific about the act of cannibalism and was on the same whaling boat with Chase. The other boat commanded by Capt. Pollard had, but four men left alive and too weak to continue. Finally, they decided to draw lots to determine who would have to be shot so that the others could live. The young cousin of the captain was the loser in that drawing and was killed. Only eight of the crew of twenty survived.

Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex - Illustrated - NARRATIVE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINAR: Original News Stories of Whale Attacks & Cannabilism

ROSSIGNOL, KEN

Nickerson, Thomas

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

This is the true story which inspired the major motion picture, In the Heart of the Sea, and Melville’s classic Moby Dick. 
1820, at the heart of the Pacific Ocean. 
Sensational in its time, the epic tale still has resonance today. 
On the morning of November 20th, 1820, the whaleship ‘Essex’ was struck by an enraged sperm whale. 
The boat started to sink, and the twenty-one crew members who made it into the lifeboats found themselves stranded 2,000 miles from land. They had no maps and little food. 
This is their extraordinary story. 
Over ninety days at sea, the crew faced storms, starvation and even the last resort of cannibalism. 
Owen Chase, the first mate of the ‘Essex’, tells first-hand the harrowing account of the sailors’ attempts to survive against all odds. 
‘The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex’ is a thrilling saga and classic tale of courage in the face of insurmountable odds. 
Owen Chase (1797-1869) was the First Mate of the whale-ship ‘Essex’ and wrote ‘The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex’ about his experiences during and after its deadly wreckage. It was first published in 1821. 
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The Wreck of the Whaleship "Essex"

Military

Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex is the story of a whale ship that was attached by a sperm whale, and the inspiration for 'Moby Dick'.

Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex

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Books by Chase, Owen

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Chase, Owen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Narratives of the Wreck of the Whale-Ship Essex

The Wreck of the Whaleship 'Essex' : A Narrative Account

The Wreck Of The Whaleship Essex

The Wreck of the Whaleship 'Essex : A First-Hand Account of One of History's Most Extraordinary Maritime Disasters

Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex: The Complete Illustrated Edition: The Extraordinary and Distressing Memoir That Inspired Herman Melville's Moby-Dick

Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex: The Complete Illustrated Edition: The Extraordinary and Distressing Memoir That Inspired Herman Melville's Moby-Dick

Shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex: The True Narrative that Inspired Herman Melville's Moby-Dick

Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex - Illustrated - NARRATIVE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINAR: Original News Stories of Whale Attacks & Cannabilism

The Wreck of the Whaleship "Essex"

Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex