In The Heart of the Sea: Book Review

Survival of the Crew of the Essex, Author Nathaniel Philbrick

Aug 10, 2008

This is the true, raw, sea adventure/tragedy about the crew of the Essex, forced to abandon their ship and survive the elements, after the attack of an angry, sperm whale

Out of a crew of twenty, only eight survived after a furious sperm whale bludgenoned a whole in the hull of their whaling ship, the Essex, in the Pacific Ocean (08/1819-02/1820).

Author Nathaniel Philbrick's account of this tragedy (leading to cannibalism--law of the sea) is riveting, absorbing, exciting, and poignant. A fictional tale would not equal or excel this story, though this event became the fodder for Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

The Essex sailed out of Nantucket, Massachusetts, August of 1819 and headed for the Pacific Ocean searching for the sperm whale for whale oil. Once whale numbers were plentiful off the coast of Nantucket, but excessive hunting and maybe the whales' own instinct for survival forced whalers to travel to distant shores in search of this prey.

On November 20, 1819, 1500 nautical miles from the Galapagos Island and 40 miles south of the Equator..., the lookout spied puffs of water vapor. A whale hunt began. The longboat holding First Mate Owen Chase and his group of whalemen suffered damages when a harpooned whale smashed a hole in it with its flukes (tail). They returned to the Essex for repairs.

As Chase was hammering nails into the longboat, he noticed a sperm whale floating nearby. He ignored it. Then the whale started swimming towards the ship, faster, faster still. Chase called to Cabin Boy Thomas Nickerson to steer the ship out of the way. The whale hammered it, before the ship could clear the creature. Not only did the whale hammer the ship, but came up beneath the vessel shaking it some more.

Seemingly stunned by the attack, the whale floated again near the ship. Then, as before, it churned the ocean with its flukes, building speed to ram the vessel again. Chase called to Nickerson a second time to steer the ship out of the path of the attacking whale. Again, too late. The whale not only hit the ship head on, but,... pushed the 238 ton ship backwards.... By now, the ship was taking in too much water.

The bulk of the book focuses upon the crew's survival at sea. The choices Captain George Pollard, Owen Chase and the crew faced no human should ever have to reckon with.

For that matter, it is also the story of a whale's attempt to survive amidst the blood-thirsty cravings of the whale hunters. The blood lust for their prey transformed the generally calm Quakers (general religious stock of Nantucketer) into almost Jekyll and Hyde creatures.

For those with salt-water running through their veins or anyone who just relishes a great, true story, this is a must read!

About Nathaniel Philbrick

As a boy, Philbrick fell asleep to the stories his father told about a vindictive sperm whale. Philbrick currently resides on Nantucket Island--an avid, champion, sailboat racer.

Source

Nathaniel Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, Viking Penguin, 2000.

The copyright of the article In The Heart of the Sea: Book Review in Historical Biographies is owned by Jeannie Delahunt. Permission to republish In The Heart of the Sea: Book Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.