Shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex

by Owen Chase
List(s):"Extreme Classics"
Category: "Travel"
Pages:71
Year of Publication:1821
Date Added:01/29/2010
Date Read:04/11/2015
Notes:Owen Chase was one of a crew of 20 on the whaleship Essex out of Nantucket. In the Pacific, they came upon a pod of Sperm Whales and set out in their boats to catch them. Chase's boat was holed by a whale, so he and his crew went back to the ship. A large whale charged the ship twice and sank it within minutes. The crew, divided amongst three whale boats, decided to head for Chile. The landed for a while on a island but decided it couldn't sustain them for long and left again. Three men stayed behind. The three boats were separated. One disappeared. The men on the captain's boat survived by eating crew members who died until the time came when they cast lots and killed one of the remaining men for food. Two men from that boat were picked up by a ship and, eventually returned home. The men on Chase's boat ate a man that died before they, too, were picked up by a ship. Four men on that boat survived.
My Rating: 7

Reviews for Shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex

Review - Shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex

A straightforward account with little embellishment and no contemplation about the morals or effects of eating a fellow crew member. Still, it made for an interesting story, and when you step back from the dry retelling and consider what actually happened, a pretty incredible one.
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