Learn how a sperm whale rammed and sank the essex in 1820, leaving the crew to survive 90 days on rowboats Discover how this ordeal inspired herman melville to write moby dick, the classic novel about a vengeful whale. Learn about the history and crew of the essex, a nantucket whaling ship that was rammed by a sperm whale in 1820 See a model of the ship, portraits of the crew, and artifacts from the voyage. The essex set sail in 1819, hoping for a successful whaling expedition Instead, the ship was sunk by a whale attack, leading to a brutal struggle for survival.
The ship essex, commanded by captain george pollard, junior, was fitted out at nantucket, and sailed on the 12th day of august, 1819, for the pacific ocean, on a whaling voyage Of this ship i was first mate. On december 20th, 1820, the crew members of the essex, in their three separate whaling boats, spotted an island that they believed to be called ducies island By the time a ship arrived to rescue the three crew members that chose to stay on the island, they realized that they were actually on henderson island It would come out later that while stranded on the island the three men. Learn how a whale sunk the essex in 1820, leaving 20 men adrift in three boats for 92 days
