On November 20, 1820, the whaling ship Essex was sunk by an 80-ton sperm whale.
The story of the Essex and its crew was the real-life horror story that inspired Herman Melville’s literary classic Moby Dick.

“Oh, my God! where is the ship?”
Captain George Pollard, Jr, finding nothing but wreckage on returning to his ship.

21 sailors went to sea; 8 limped home.

The true life events that inspired Melville’s Moby Dick is a tale of horror greater than any novel could describe.  In the 1800s, an entire industry was centered around the slaughter of sperm whales, the only source of a spermaceti. The rich waxy oil was used in the manufacturing of oil, lubricants and candles, with Nantucket, Mass, USA an epicentre of the bloody business. 

Sperm Whales (Physeter macrocephalus)
Issued by São Tomé and Príncipe in 2017

They are named after the waxy substance—spermaceti—found in their heads. The spermaceti is an oil sac that helps the whales focus sound. Spermaceti was used in oil lamps, lubricants, and candles. Sperm whales were a primary target of the commercial whaling industry from 1800 to 1987, which nearly decimated all sperm whale populations. While whaling is no longer a major threat, sperm whale populations are still recovering. The sperm whale is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act and depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 
Sperm Whale | NOAA Fisheries

The Essex was a 3 masted 87 feet (26.5 metres) vessel built from white oak. On board were 4 – 25 ft. long whaling boats, each capable of holding a crew of 6. The smaller boats would row close to the behemoths and drive them to exhaustion by chasing and harpooning them. The whaling boats would drag the whale carcass to the ship where it was rendered down for their oil and blubber. A success voyage could see up to 1,200 barrels of oil brought home, although some statistics claim up to 2,000 could be stored on ship. The trips took 2 to 3 years to complete, with each voyage going further as sperm whale numbers dropped each year. Ship captains were forced to hunt far from home in search of riches. 

‘By the end of worldwide whaling,’ explains WDC ambassador Philip Hoare in his book Leviathan, ’Nearly three-quarters of all sperm whales had been killed, reducing a population of more than a million in 1712 to 360,000 by the end of the 20th Century.’ The whale who sank a ship and became a legend – Whale and Dolphin Conservation

The last voyage of the Essex began August 12, 1819. The crew bid their farewells, expecting to be home by 2022. The ship was captained by 29 year old George Pollard, Jr, a member of an esteemed whaling family. Although the Essex was considered a “lucky ship” based on its excellent catch record, superstitious crew members quickly began to think it was cursed this time out. Within days of setting sail, the Essex ran into a squall that damaged both the ship and destroyed or one of the whale boats. While Pollard wanted to return to Nantucket for repairs, his First Mate Owen Chase convinced him it would be seen as bad luck and an evil omen. The fateful decision was made to continue on to the south Pacific whaling grounds.  

Whaling boat, 19th Century
Issued in 2024 by Tristan da Cunha
Designer: Andrew Robinson

They sailed from Nantucket on the east coast of the USA, southward, keeping a look out for whales. Their first kill didn’t come until they hit the coast of Rio de Janeiro, sometime in late October 1819.  That would be their only kill until, January 1820, when the frustrated Essex crew sailed to the tip South America. They  rounded Cape Horn, sailing out to the Pacific ocean, continuing their search for an increasingly elusive quarry.  The ship’s luck briefly changed off the coast of Peru when the Essex came across a group of whales, killing 10. After that, no further sightings were made. At this point, Pollard made the decision to sail west, further away from land, to what he hoped would be richer hunting grounds. He planned on a stop at the Galapagos Islands, a common stopping spot for whaling ships. 

When the population of whales along this stretch of the South American coast had been killed, Captain Pollard decided to follow the recommendation of another whaling crew, and sail to a little-known area far from shore and 2,500 nautical miles away. Although some members of the crew were nervous about cannibals alleged to live on islands surrounding their intended hunting grounds, Pollard nonetheless prepared the ship for its new destination. The Essex sailed to Charles Island (now called Floreana) in the Galapagos, where the crew captured tortoises they intended to live off while away from land. 
The Harrowing Ordeal of the Essex, the Ship That Was Sunk by a Whale

Galapagos Tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra)
Issued by Ecuador in 2006 and 2009

The Essex reached Charles Island in October, 1820.  While anchored, the crew repaired the Essex, patching a leak and resupplying the ship. 200 tortoises were killed and brought aboard. One crewman decided he’d had enough and deserted, leaving the ship shorthanded. The layover was abruptly cut short after helmsman Thomas Chapple set a fire that quickly raged out of control. It swept across the delicate ecosystem, burning everything to the ground. Sailors still on the island hunting tortoises ran a fiery gauntlet across the island, evading the inferno and barely escaping back to the ship. A few years after the fire, one of the surviving crew returned to Charles Island and reported it was still a charred mess. It was later discovered two species, a tortoise and a mockingbird, unique to the islands were driven to extinction by the fire. The crew took this as another omen.  

The demise of the whaling ship Essex

The crew set off west, further and further from land. On November 20, 1820, the Essex reached its destination, 2,800 km from the safety of the Galapagos, to an area rich with whales ready for the slaughter.  

3 whaling boats were quickly launched with the first whale sightings. 18 crew clambered aboard the smaller boats, leaving 2 behind to keep the Essex on course. One boat, commanded by Captain Pollard gave chase, setting off on a furious pace. The second boat set off after another whale. The third, commanded by First Mate Chase was forced to return to the Essex after it was damaged. While repairing the boat, a crewman shouted a massive male sperm whale was not far off the, watching the ship. It wasn’t moving, just watching. Chase described the whale as the biggest he’d seen – 85 feet (26 metres). It far outweighed the average male by a good 20 feet. 

Sketch made of the ramming, by 14 year old Essex cabin boy Thomas Nickerson

The Essex crew watched as the whale swam towards them, picking up speed, intent on ramming the ship full on.  With a tremendous crash, the whale smashed into the ship’s bow before diving down. 

″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, and it appeared to have 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.” First Mate Owen Chase’s eyewitness account

“Here he is — he is making for us again”

The horror was far from over. As the crew scrambled to halt the flood of water, they spotted the whale surface again. It sped towards the ailing Essex and rammed it once more before disappearing for the final time.  

Bicentenary of Sinking of Whaling Ship Essex
Issued by Pitcairn Islands post in 2020

The damage was fatal. By the time Pollard and the second boat returned, it was clear the ship was all but lost. Orders were given to salvage whatever they could. Three months of supplies and hastily made sails were loaded onto each boat, commanded by three officers – Pollard, Chase, and Joy. 

Pollard wanted to set sail for the closest islands, Marquesas Islands and the Society Islands, about 1609 km (1,000 miles) south. These islands were visited by trade ships on a regular basis, and represented the best chance for survival. But he was overruled when the crew’s fears, stoked by tales of cannibals overruled him.  ““We feared that we should be devoured by cannibals if we cast ourselves on their mercy.” (Pollard recounting the decision later). Instead they struck eastward towards Peru, over 2,000 kms from the wreck. What ensued was 92 days of misery, starvation, dehydration and, in a fatal twist of irony, murder and cannibalism. 

Thus they left the Essex aboard their 20-foot boats. They were challenged almost from the start. Saltwater saturated the bread, and the men began to dehydrate as they ate their daily rations. The sun was ravaging. Pollard’s boat was attacked by a killer whale. They spotted land—Henderson Island—two weeks later, but it was barren. After another week the men began to run out of supplies. Still, three of them decided they’d rather take their chances on land than climb back into a boat. No one could blame them. And besides, it would stretch the provisions for the men in the boats.
The True-Life Horror That Inspired ‘Moby-Dick’ | Smithsonian

Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunk Christian.”
― Herman Melville, Moby-Dick or, The Whale

By January, madness overtook the crew, who were constantly menaced by whales that circled the little boats, threatening to swamp them. Finally, the men resorted to eating, at first their dead shipmates, and then murdering them.  The three boats separated and took different courses, each rescued by a different ship. Chase’s boat was saved by an English ship called Indian on February 18. On February 23, Pollard and Charles Ramsdell were picked up by an American ship Dauphin. Found on the bottom of the boat were the smashed bones of the dead crew. 

Wretched and confused, Pollard and Ramsdell did not rejoice at their rescue, but simply turned to the bottom of their boat and stuffed bones into their pockets. Safely aboard the Dauphin, the two delirious men were seen “sucking the bones of their dead mess mates, which they were loath to part with.” 
The True-Life Horror That Inspired ‘Moby-Dick’ | Smithsonian

The third boat wasn’t found for years. When it was finally discovered, on Ducie Island, all that was left were 3 forlorn skeletons. The last group to be rescued were the ones that remained on Henderson Island. Somehow, they survived eating bird eggs and shellfish before being rescued by an Australian ship on April 9, 1821.

After recuperating, the remaining crew finally made their way back home to Nantucket. By and large, the crew were not scorned for their actions at sea. It was seen as a desperate act of survival. Captain Pollard didn’t fare so well. He became an outcast and never returned to sea, not because of cannibalism or losing his ship, but for eating his own cousin.  

Captain Pollard, however, was not as easily forgiven, because he had eaten his cousin. (One scholar later referred to the act as “gastronomic incest.”) Owen Coffin’s mother could not abide being in the captain’s presence. Once his days at sea were over, Pollard spent the rest of his life in Nantucket. Once a year, on the anniversary of the wreck of the Essex, he was said to have locked himself in his room and fasted in honor of his lost crewmen.
The True-Life Horror That Inspired ‘Moby-Dick’ | Smithsonian

In 1821, Chase published his first hand account of the Essex disaster, Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex. It was this chronicle that inspired Melville to write his great American classic Moby Dick, 20 years later. 

On the 11th of June following I arrived at Nantucket in the whale-ship the Eagle, Capt. William H. Coffin. My family had received the most distressing account of our shipwreck, and had given me up for lost. My unexpected appearance was welcomed with the most grateful obligations and acknowledgements to a beneficent Creator, who had guided me through darkness, trouble, and death, once more to the bosom of my country and friends.
Owen Chase, p. 127, NARRATIVE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY AND DISTRESSING SHIPWRECK OF THE WHALE-SHIP ESSEX,