Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex
Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex is an account by first mate Owen Chase of the Essex, a whale ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts, that was sunk by a sperm whale in the Pacific Ocean near South American in 1820. Of the twenty-man crew, only eight survived the horrific ordeal; some men were stranded on an island, all remaining crew were forced to eat food tainted by seawater and drink their own urine, and finally, when members of the crew started dying, those still alive resorted to cannibalism until they were rescued. Narrative of the Whale-ship Essex inspired Herman Melville to write his enduring classic Moby-Dick in 1851; it also inspired the 2015 movie In the Heart of the Sea, based on the 2000 best-selling book of the same name.
The Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex
The Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex was the inspiration for Melville's Moby Dick.
Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex, of Nantucket
Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.
Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex, of Nantucket
The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex
The morning of 20 November 1820 was a doomed one for the Essex. Over 1000 miles from land, she was sunk, rammed by a sperm whale. Only eight sailors survived the following three months of despair and debilitating exhaustion at sea - Owen Chase was one of these, and this is his journal of shipwreck, camaraderie and cannibalism.
