The American whaler Essex, which hailed from Nantucket, Massachusetts, is attacked by an 80-ton sperm whale 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America.
The 238-ton Essex was in pursuit of sperm whales, specifically the precious oil and bone that could be derived from them, when an enraged bull whale rammed the ship twice and capsized the vessel. The 20 crew members escaped in three open boats, but only five of the men survived the harrowing 83-day journey to the coastal waters of South America, where they were picked up by other ships.
Most of the crew resorted to cannibalism during the long journey, and at one point men on one of the long boats drew straws to determine which of the men would be shot in order to provide sustenance for the others. Three other men who had been left on a desolate Pacific island were saved later.
The first capture of a sperm whale by an American vessel was in 1711, marking the birth of an important American industry that commanded a fleet of more than 700 ships by the mid 18th century. Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby-Dick (1851) was inspired in part by the story of the Essex.
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For a great read on the whaling industry at the time, and the above mentioned sinking and survival, read Nathaniel Philbrick’s great book , “In The Heart Of The Sea”.
There’s a pretty fine film as well.(Ron Howard, 2015) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Heart_of_the_Sea_(film)
Read it and saw the movie. Mark Twains reporting on the Hornet was a true report.
Read it in his autobiography.
https://www.honolulumagazine.com/the-harrowing-journey-of-the-hornet-that-gave-mark-twain-his-big-newspaper-scoop/
They harpooned it and then shit went wrong? or it was the revenge of the whales!