Cold Open

It’s the morning of November 20th, 1820, on board the whaling ship Essex in the southern Pacific Ocean.

22-year-old first mate Owen Chase hammers a nail into a plank. He runs his fingers along the seam and then grunts with satisfaction. Because the join looks tight and seaworthy.

More than a year ago, the whaling ship Essex left Massachusetts bound for the hunting grounds of the Pacific. Since then, its crew has killed several whales. And today they’re on the hunt again. Two other whaleboats are currently on the water, chasing prey. But this one has sprung a leak, so it’s been hoisted onto the main deck for Owen to repair. And he must work fast. Hunting season waits for no one, and every lost hour comes at a cost.

A voice from the crow’s nest interrupts Owen’s work. And he glances up. A sailor is pointing off the port side, and Owen squints into the sun’s glare as he follows the man’s gesture. An unusually large sperm whale lies motionless on the surface. Owen’s heart beats faster. If they can kill it, it’ll go a long way to filling their hold with precious oil.

Owen goes to the rail for a closer look. And for a moment, he thinks that the whale is already dead. But then, it moves. With a powerful flick of its tail, the whale begins gliding toward the Essex. Slowly, at first. But then faster, and faster still. Too late, Owen realizes that the whale is heading right for the ship.

He grips the rail as the animal hits the Essex, and the ship shudders from the impact. Owen leans over the side to check the damage. And sees its splinters and broken planks float on the waves.

The whale then surfaces, and with a blast from its blowhole, swims away. Owen has never seen anything like it, and he wonders what’s caused the animal’s strange behavior. But the whale isn’t done with them yet. A few hundred yards away from the ship, it pivots and speeds back toward the Essex. Owen’s heart pounds as the truth sinks in. The roles have been reversed. It's now the crew of the Essex that's being hunted.

After ramming the Essex for a second time, the enormous sperm whale swims away, apparently unharmed. But the same cannot be said of the ship. It will soon sink beneath the waves, casting its crew adrift, 2,000 miles from safety. Their story will be an epic of survival and death that will eventually inspire one of the great works of American literature, more than 30 years after the attack on the Essex on November 20th, 1820.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is November 20th, 1820: The Real-Life Moby Dick.

Act One

It’s August 12th, 1819, in Nantucket harbor, Massachusetts, 15 months before the Essex is attacked by a whale.

29-year-old Captain George Pollard stands on the whaling ship’s deck as it slowly sails into the Atlantic Ocean. Satisfied that the Essex is holding a steady course, Pollard looks back toward the cluster of wooden buildings on the shore. Somewhere among them is home. He fixes that image in his mind, because if all goes to plan, he won’t see it again for the next two and a half years.

But long absences are nothing new for Captain Pollard. He’s already made two voyages aboard the Essex, each one lasting for years. And like every Nantucket whaler, the Essex sails for the Pacific to hunt sperm whales. The crews butcher the carcasses at sea and boil their blubber into oil—a valuable commodity that’s used all over the world to light lamps and make soap. But the profits of this lucrative trade come at a cost. Voyages are long and dangerous, and many ships never return.

But Pollard is confident. He’s been promoted, and this is his first expedition as captain of the Essex. Still within days, his new command is put to the test. Barely 200 miles from Nantucket, the Essex is hit by a sudden squall. The ship pitches wildly from side to side, and a sail is ripped from its mast. Two whaleboats tear loose and vanish beneath the waves. And when the storm calms, Pollard faces a choice. He can limp home to Nantucket for repairs, but that would be an embarrassing start to his first voyage as captain. Or he can press on with just three whaleboats instead of five. In the end, pride and determination win out. And the Essex continues its southward course.

Months later, the Essex rounds Cape Horn and enters the Pacific Ocean. Soon, the ship is in rich hunting grounds. Each time a lookout spots a telltale waterspout, the whaleboats are lowered to the surface. Pursuing their prey is fraught with danger. Whales have been known to drag whaleboats under. Others have been smashed to pieces by the desperate animals thrashing their tails. But the Essex harpooners are skilled and experienced. And soon, several whales are killed, and after processing the carcasses, the ship’s hold contains 450 barrels of oil. But there’s still plenty of room for more.

Then, on November 20th, 1820, more than a year after departing Nantucket, the lookout spots more waterspouts. All three whaleboats launch, but the one commanded by first mate Owen Chase soon springs a leak and returns to the Essex for repairs. Captain Pollard barely notices. He’s immersed in the thrill of the chase, and he soon harpoons a whale himself.

Pollard hangs on as the injured animal pulls the whaleboat for more than two miles. But eventually, the whale tires. And when it slows, Captain Pollard takes another harpoon and stands, ready to strike the killing blow. But before he can take a shot, Pollard glances back to the Essex—and freezes. Something has happened to his ship. The Essex is listing badly, its stern almost out of the water.

In an instant, Captain Pollard’s priorities shift from killing the whale to saving his ship. He cuts the line to the injured animal and orders his men to row hard for the stricken Essex. Climbing aboard, he finds the ship in a state of chaos. As carpenters work frantically to plug gaps in the hull, Captain Pollard holds a hurried conversation with his first mate. This is when he learns that a large sperm whale attacked the ship, ramming it twice.

Captain Pollard has never heard of a whale targeting a ship before. But no matter the cause, he must act quickly if he’s to save his crew. But after inspecting the hull, Captain Pollard realizes that the damage is terminal. The Essex is doomed, and there’s nothing they can do to stop it from sinking.

If they are to survive, there’s only one option. They’ll have to abandon ship and try to reach land in the whaleboats normally used for hunting. But it will be a dangerous journey. The whaleboats are small, light, and open-topped. They’re made for short chases, not long voyages across the rough waters of the Pacific Ocean. But Captain Pollard has no choice.

So over the next two days, the crew work around the clock, preparing to leave their stricken ship. They rig makeshift masts to the whaleboats. They hammer additional planks to increase the height of the sides. They then strip the Essex of supplies, stowing food, weapons, and maritime charts in chests underneath the benches.

Then, at last, as the Essex sinks lower and lower into the water, Captain Pollard will give the order to abandon ship. They’ll leave the Esseix and climb aboard their crude life rafts—adrift, alone, and thousands of miles from safety.

Act Two

It’s November 22nd, 1820, in the Pacific Ocean, two days after the Essex was attacked by a whale.

On the listing deck of the whaling ship, Captain George Pollard swings his legs over the rail before taking one last look over his now-deserted first command. Then, he carefully lowers himself into a crowded whaleboat. The Essex is so low in the water that he doesn’t even need a ladder. But finding a seat on board the whaleboat is more difficult. It's built for three sailors, but now holds seven, and every spare inch is crammed with supplies.

Captain Pollard still finds a place on a bench, and then his sailors pull on the oars to join the other two whaleboats nearby. Together, the 20 men of the Essex sit in silence as they watch their ship finally slip beneath the waves.

Now, they are all alone in the Pacific. The nearest land is Colombia, 2,000 miles to the east. But the winds and ocean currents are against them, so Captain Pollard points his men west, hoping for a faster passage to East Asia.

He studies the charts. Small islands dot the endless expanse of the ocean, and he hopes they’ll be able to stop and replenish their supplies. But finding them soon proves almost impossible. Days blur into weeks. The boats leak constantly, and the sailors must spend every waking hour bailing them out. Storms and rough seas threaten to capsize them, and their limited rations quickly run low.

At last, after a month at sea, Captain Pollard spots an island. It’s uninhabited, but the crew takes the opportunity to gorge on birds, eggs, crabs, and fish. And after a few days, they’ve eaten everything they can find. So, Captain Pollard announces, it’s time to go.

The crew of the Essex continue west, but again their supplies of food run low. After 49 days, the first sailor dies of starvation. His crewmates mutter a few prayers as they commit his body to the sea, suspecting that his death won’t be the last.

The next day, one of the three boats becomes separated from the rest in a squall. The exhausted sailors on board don’t seem to have the strength to row back to the other two boats, and Captain Pollard isn’t going to order his men to give chase. So instead, they can only wave forlornly as the waves drive the boat further away, until it disappears from view.

Ten days later, another sailor dies. But this time, Captain Pollard declares that they can’t waste the body by throwing it overboard. They must eat it. And although the crew is disgusted at the prospect of cannibalism, the men also know that they cannot survive without food. They eat the human flesh raw, but it is still not enough to ward off starvation. Over the next few days, two more sailors die. And both suffer the same grim fate of being eaten by their surviving crewmates.

The sailors' numbers dwindle even further when Pollard wakes one morning to find that the other boat has drifted away during the night. Now, it’s nowhere to be seen. And despite keeping a close watch over the following days, there’s no sign of it. Captain Pollard and the three remaining men in his boat are now on their own.

So eventually, the starving sailors turn to the unthinkable—they must sacrifice one life to save the others. They draw lots to decide which one of them will be killed and eaten. The unlucky victim is 16-year-old Owen Coffin, Pollard’s own cousin. With tears in his eyes, Captain Pollard offers to take Owen’s place. But Owen refuses, saying that it’s a privilege to die so that his crewmates might live. Even so, Owen’s flesh doesn’t sustain the others for long. Just five days later, another sailor starves to death.

This horrific ordeal only ends when a sail appears on the horizon. Over the next few hours, the whaleboat slowly drifts toward a British merchant ship.

And after 93 days lost at sea, only Captain Pollard and one other crewmate from his boat have survived. Climbing the board of the merchant ship, Pollard learns that one of the other whaleboats has been rescued as well. But the third is never seen again. Of the 20 men who abandoned the Essex, twelve are dead.

After returning home to Nantucket, the survivors will process the ordeal as best they can. Captain Pollard will attempt to salvage his reputation as an unlucky captain by returning to sea. But his next voyage will also end in disaster when his ship sinks in a storm, and he’ll never be entrusted with a whaling expedition again. First mate Owen Chase will enjoy a more successful career at sea, but not before writing a searing account of his ordeal, an account that will one day inspire one of the greatest works in American literature.

Act Three

It’s July 23rd, 1841, aboard the whaling ship Acushnet in the Pacific Ocean, 20 years after the survivors of the Essex were rescued.

21-year-old Herman Melville grabs a sailor by the arm, helping him up the rope ladder and onto the deck of the ship. The new man steadies himself, then shakes Herman by the hand. They might be in the middle of nowhere, but it’s always good to see the face of a fellow American.

Seven months ago, thirsty for adventure and to see the world, Herman signed up for a whaling expedition aboard the Acushnet. Since arriving in the Pacific Ocean, the ship has chased and killed several whales. But today, the crew’s work has paused. The Acushnet has met another whaling vessel out of Massachusetts, and the two captains have agreed to share news of home.

Over the next few days, the men of both ships mingle, swapping stories and companionship. Herman finds himself drawn to one sailor in particular. Like Herman, William Chase is a natural storyteller, and the two men quickly bond. They exchange accounts of dramatic voyages at sea, but one of William’s tales leaves Herman astonished. William claims that his father once served aboard a ship that was attacked and sunk by a whale.

At first, Herman thinks the story is too extraordinary to be true. But before the two ships part ways, William presses a small book into Herman’s hands. It’s Owen Chase’s account of the sinking of the Essex, which was written and published shortly after his return to Nantucket.

Herman carries this book with him all the way home. And in time, the former sailor becomes a successful author. But he never forgets the story of Owen Chase, and years later, he decides his next novel will be a fictionalized account of the destruction of the Essex. In Herman’s retelling, Owen Chase inspires a character named Ishmael. Captain George Pollard becomes Ahab. And the whale is named Moby Dick.

Herman Melville’s novel, "Moby-Dick," will be published in 1851. It will go on to be acclaimed as one of the great works of American literature, far eclipsing in fame the real-life tale that inspired it: the sinking of the whaling ship Essex on November 20th, 1820.

Outro

Next on History Daily. November 21st, 164 BCE. The first Hanukkah is celebrated after Jerusalem is recaptured during the Maccabean Revolt.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammed Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mollie Baack.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves.

Edited by William Simpson.

Managing producer, Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.