- 1 day ago
Set sail with us for the epic and wild true story that inspired Moby-Dick! Discover how the crew of the Essex battled a furious whale, faced shipwreck, and survived against all odds. This is survival, adventure, and history like you’ve never seen. Don’t miss it—subscribe for more gripping tales, and let us know in the comments what shocked you the most! #history #adventure #survival #ocean #trueevents
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@noelpolotv
0:00 - The Essex: Prelude to Tragedy
0:46 - Rise of American Whaling
3:11 - Essex Sets Sail and Early Challenges
4:46 - Trials at Sea and Island Calamity
7:35 - The Whale Attack and Shipwreck
9:37 - Survival at Sea: The Ordeal Begins
11:10 - Rescue and Aftermath
13:43 - Legacy and Lasting Impact
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@noelpolotv
0:00 - The Essex: Prelude to Tragedy
0:46 - Rise of American Whaling
3:11 - Essex Sets Sail and Early Challenges
4:46 - Trials at Sea and Island Calamity
7:35 - The Whale Attack and Shipwreck
9:37 - Survival at Sea: The Ordeal Begins
11:10 - Rescue and Aftermath
13:43 - Legacy and Lasting Impact
Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00Although whaling was a dangerous and extremely difficult job in the early 1800s,
00:05not one of the 21 crew members of the ship Essex, which departed from Nantucket, Massachusetts,
00:12ever imagined the tragedy that would happen in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
00:16There, a whale filled with intense rage destroyed their ship while they were far from land,
00:22leaving them adrift in three small whale boats as they desperately tried to figure out how to survive.
00:29Many of them perished, and some of the nine survivors were forced to do unimaginable things
00:34just to stay alive. But before we begin, if you're new to our channel,
00:38make sure to subscribe so you'll always be updated with this kind of content.
00:46Whale hunting, which has been practiced for thousands of years, became one of the strongest
00:51industries in what would become the United States, starting in the 1600s, the same century when the
00:57pilgrims arrived in New England aboard the Mayflower and other ships. By the 1700s, the
01:04business of whale hunting grew even more and became extremely profitable. Ships began to sail not only
01:10across the entire Atlantic Ocean, but also around Cape Horn and into the Pacific Ocean, especially as
01:17the whale population in the Atlantic quickly declined. When the Essex was sent on its dangerous
01:23journey, its intended destination was the Pacific Ocean. During the time of the Essex, Nantucket was
01:29known not as a quiet vacation spot like it is today, but as the center of the whaling industry.
01:35Located south of Cape Cod, the island was bustling with activity as whaling ships departed and returned,
01:42carrying wealth from the sea. Compared to today, most of the ship's crew were very young.
01:50Captain George Pollard was only 29 years old, and he was already one of the older crew members on record.
01:57Meanwhile, Richard Peterson, who was estimated to be around 60 years old, was the oldest known crew member.
02:04On the other hand, there were at least six teenagers on the ship, and four of them were only 16
02:10years
02:11old or younger. Out of the 21 crew members, at least nine were born or raised in Nantucket,
02:17while three of them came from Massachusetts. On August 12, 1819, the voyage of the Essex began.
02:24It had a good record because for two decades it had been successfully earning and bringing home
02:29large profits on its previous six voyages. It was one of the 34 whaling ships that left Nantucket that year.
02:38Although it was small compared to other whaling ships at only 88 feet long, it carried five whale
02:45boats, each about 28 feet long. These boats were very important in the whaling process because they
02:53were the first to approach the target whale and tow it back to the main ship for processing.
02:58The main goal of the crew was to hunt sperm whales, which were very valuable at that time because of
03:04their blubber and candle-like oil. These were used to make cosmetics, candles, and lubricants for machines.
03:11Just two days after leaving Nantucket, the Essex immediately encountered a very strong storm that
03:17caused it to capsize. The ship suffered heavy damage and they even lost two whale boats.
03:23At first, Captain George Pollard considered ending their voyage, but he was convinced by
03:28Owen Chase and Matthew Joy, the first and second mates of the ship, to continue the voyage.
03:33What they feared was that many crew members might escape or back out if they returned to Nantucket
03:39immediately after the incident, because they might think that what happened to the ship was a bad omen
03:44or a sign of bad luck. This was the first time that Pollard went against his instincts in favor of
03:49his officers' advice, an event that seemed to foreshadow an even greater tragedy to come.
03:55Despite this, the crew still continued their voyage. They stopped at the Azores and Cape Verde
04:01islands off the coast of Africa to resupply and get a replacement whale boat before setting sail again
04:07for South America. Two months after their journey began, they spotted and successfully caught their
04:13first sperm whale near Rio de Janeiro. However, they believed they would catch more whales once they
04:19reached the Pacific Ocean. Their expectations came true in January 1820 when they passed Cape Horn
04:26and finally entered the Pacific Ocean. Although they experienced disappointment on the coast of Chile
04:32as they caught only a few, their luck changed when they reached the area of present-day Peru.
04:38There, they successfully caught ten whales. It was a great success and an important turning point in
04:45their expedition. In May 1820, Pollard made an important decision to move far away from the coast
04:51of South America. He was enticed by reports of a newly discovered area in the ocean teeming with sperm
04:58whales that could bring enormous profits. But before they could carry out that plan, they first had to
05:04prepare thoroughly so their departure was delayed. By September of that year, the crew stopped at Atacams,
05:10a coastal town in Ecuador about 100 miles from the Colombian border, to finish their preparations.
05:17While they were there, a crew member named Henry DeWitt escaped from the ship, causing their crew
05:24number to drop to 20. When a whale is spotted, they usually send out three whale boats. Each boat carries
05:31an
05:31officer, a boat steerer, and four crew members to chase the target whale. But because of DeWitt's
05:38disappearance, only two people were left on the Essex itself while the others were out hunting.
05:43A very dangerous situation for a ship of that size. To replenish their food and supplies for the
05:50difficult journey ahead, the Essex went to Charles Island, which was later named Floriana Island, part of the
05:58Galapagos Islands. On October 8, 1820, the ship first landed on Hood Island, which is now known as
06:05Espanola Island. During their week-long stay there, the crew repaired a serious hole in the ship. While
06:12on the island, they caught 300 giant Galapagos tortoises to add to their food supply. When they
06:19arrived at Charles Island on October 22, they caught an additional 60 tortoises, each weighing from
06:25100 to 800 pounds. They let some of the tortoises roam freely on the ship, while others were placed
06:33in the storage area below deck. It was once believed that these creatures could survive for up to a year
06:39without food, but unfortunately, many of them eventually died of starvation. While on a hunting
06:46expedition on Charles Island, the boat steerer, Thomas Chappelle, started a fire as a joke. But because it
06:53was the height of summer and everything was very dry, the fire spread quickly and turned into a massive
06:58blaze. The hunters were trapped in the middle of the raging fire and were forced to escape while
07:05surrounded by the inferno. Fortunately, they survived without any serious injuries. When they returned to
07:11Essex, they were met with a shocking sight. Almost the entire island was being consumed by fire. Captain
07:18Pollard was furious about the destruction and vowed to find out who was responsible for the fire. But
07:24even after they left the next day for the offshore grounds, the crew could still see the blazing fire
07:29on the island from afar. It was a chilling reminder of the damage caused by Chappelle's prank.
07:35On November 2015, months after they left Nantucket, the Essex reached the offshore grounds, a very remote
07:42place about 1,500 miles from the Galapagos and more than 2,000 miles from South America. That was
07:50where the tragedy that would forever change their fate would begin. That morning, the ship's lookout
07:56noticed a spout of water from whales. 18 out of the 20 crew members immediately boarded the three
08:02whale boats to chase the group of whales. While Owen Chase's group was trying to catch one, a whale
08:09suddenly struck their boat with its tail. This caused damage to the boat and forced them to return
08:14to the Essex for repairs. Meanwhile, the groups of Pollard and Joy were being dragged away by a whale
08:20that had been struck by a harpoon. While repairing the boat, Chase noticed a huge sperm whale in the
08:25distance. It was estimated to be about 85 feet long. After spouting water, it suddenly attacked the
08:31Essex and crashed violently into the ship, causing severe chaos inside. Chase noticed that the whales seemed
08:38extremely angry before it temporarily retreated, giving the crew a little time to assess the damage.
08:44But after only a few moments, the giant whale returned and charged even faster. It was estimated
08:50to have reached a speed of 24 knots or almost 27 miles per hour as it prepared for the second
08:55attack.
08:56Chase wrote in his diary that I turned around and saw it about 100 rods away, around 500 meters,
09:03directly in front of us, rapidly approaching at twice its usual speed of about 24 knots.
09:10And it seemed 10 times angrier and more vengeful in its appearance. Water was flying in all directions
09:17because of the tremendous force of its tail slapping. Half of its head was raised out of the water as
09:23it
09:23approached us. And once again, it rammed the ship. Because of the relentless attacks by the whale,
09:30the Essex was finally doomed, and the desperate escape of the crew from the sinking ship began.
09:36The crew hurried to gather the essential items, including the navigation instruments,
09:41and William Bond made sure of this. Despite his efforts, it is believed that he did not survive and
09:48was lost in the tragedy. When Pollard returned to the ship, he was shocked by its terrible condition.
09:53While some of the crew members fully understood the gravity of their situation, others may have been
09:59too shocked or lacked enough experience to fully comprehend it. For two days, the men tried to
10:05salvage supplies from the soaked and damaged Essex. They made improvised sails, repaired the damaged parts
10:13of the ship, and tried to fix anything that could be used. In Pollard's section were important navigation
10:19instruments, which were later divided among the three boats. There was a heated argument about which
10:25route to take towards land. Pollard preferred to go west because he was afraid of the rumored cannibals
10:31in the Marquesas Islands. Chase and Joy did not agree, and they chose the southern route towards Chile or
10:38Peru, hoping to find another ship. In the end, they followed Joy's suggestion. The remaining crew members
10:44were divided into three boats, and they began sailing on November 22, 1820, while facing continuous leaks,
10:53strong waves, and dangerous seas. They were battered by storms and struggled to keep their boats afloat
11:00as their food and water gradually ran out. Despite the hardships, they continued their journey and
11:07ordeal full of danger and endurance. By December 20, a month after the devastating whale attack, the exhausted
11:16and starving crew reached Henderson Island, thinking it was Ducey Island. Although they found food such as
11:24birds, eggs, and fish, water was very scarce until they discovered a spring of fresh water. After a week,
11:32as their supplies quickly dwindled, they faced a difficult decision to stay and die of hunger or to
11:39set sail again. Three men, William Wright, Seth Weeks, and Thomas Chappell, chose to remain on the island,
11:47trusting in Pollard's promise that he would return and rescue them. On December 27, 1820, the 17 remaining
11:55crew members of the Essex set sail once again, hoping to reach Easter Island. However, by January 4,
12:031821, they realized that the current had carried them too far off course, so they changed direction
12:09toward Massafuera Island, which was near the coast of Chile. As their food continued to run out, they
12:15were forced to ration the little water and bread they had left. Tragedy struck on January 10 when Matthew
12:21Joy passed away, followed by Richard Peterson on January 20, and Lawson Thomas on the same day.
12:27As desperation deepened, they made a grim decision to eat the bodies of those who had perished in
12:34order to survive. By February 6, Pollard's group once again faced extreme hunger. Because they had
12:40nothing left to eat, they were forced to make a horrifying decision to draw lots to determine who
12:46would be sacrificed so that the others could survive. In a tragic turn of events, Owen Coffin was
12:52chosen and sacrificed. As the days passed, Barzillay Ray met the same fate and was eaten by the remaining
12:59crew members in order to stay alive. Meanwhile, the men on Chase's boat were also forced to do the same
13:05thing after Isaac Cole died on February 10. In Chase's chilling words, he said,
13:12I do not have enough words to describe the suffering of our souls in the midst of that terrible
13:17situation. On February 18, Benjamin Lawrence, who was in charge of Chase's boat, saw a sail in the
13:24distance. They managed to reach the ship, which was later identified as the British Ship Indian.
13:31Because their bodies were so weak, they had to be carried up onto the ship. Later that same day,
13:36they saw Massafuera Island, the island that Chase had been aiming for almost exactly throughout their
13:41entire voyage. A few days later, the Indian arrived in Valparaiso, but the whale boat they were towing
13:48was lost in a strong storm. On February 23, 93 days after the Essex sank, Pollard and Charles Ramsden
13:56were rescued near St. Mary's Island by the Nantucket whale ship Dolphin, the same ship that the Essex
14:03had come alongside more than a year before the tragedy. They were nearly starving to death and
14:07surviving only by sucking on the bones of their dead companions. Later, they were transferred to
14:13the whale ship. Two brothers bound for Valparaiso, where they were reunited with Chase, Lawrence,
14:19and Thomas Nickerson, who were recovering at that time aboard the USS Constellation. All the survivors were
14:25moved to tears when they were reunited. On March 23, Chase, Lawrence, Nickerson, and Ramsden
14:31traveled back home to Nantucket aboard the whale ship Eagle, while Pollard, who was still weak,
14:39followed in May aboard the two brothers. Meanwhile, the commander of the USS Constellation helped rescue
14:45the three men left behind on what they believed was Ducey Island, which was later discovered to
14:52actually be Henderson Island. The Australian trading vessel Surrey, which was on its way to Australia at the
14:57time, was ordered to stop at Ducey Island. When they found no one there, they proceeded to Henderson Island,
15:03where they found Chappelle, Weeks, and Wright on April 9. In the history of seafaring, the tragedy of
15:10the Essex and its crew remains one of the most terrifying stories. A stark reminder of the dangers
15:17and ferocity of the ocean. By the year 1822, Captain Pollard once again set sail aboard the
15:24whale ship Two Brothers. But once again, tragedy struck him again when the ship sank at the French
15:30frigate Shoals, ultimately ending his unlucky career as a whaler. On June 11, 1821, Chase returned
15:38to Nantucket and was greeted with a bittersweet yet joyful homecoming. There he saw his daughter for the
15:44first time, whom he had never met before. Just a few months later, he wrote about his harrowing
15:49experience regarding the tragedy of the Essex, a work that later inspired Herman Melville to write the
15:56famous novel, Moby Dick. Chase continued to sail on other ships, such as the Florida and the Winslow, but
16:03his life remained full of challenges and changes. Lawrence, on the other hand, retired and lived quietly in
16:10Nantucket, tending to his farm in Sears-Sias-Conset until his passing on March 20, 2018. Ramsdell also
16:18found peace in the simple life on the island and became the captain of the General Jackson until his
16:24death on July 8, 1866. In his later years, Nickerson returned to Nantucket and shared his own experience
16:31of the sinking of the Essex in his work, the loss of the ship Essex, sunk by a whale, and
16:38the ordeal of
16:39the crew an open boat. His memory and story remain alive through the preservation efforts of the
16:44Nantucket Historical Association. Meanwhile, the men who were rescued from Henderson Island went on to
16:50have different paths in life. Chappelle, Weeks, and Wright went on to pursue different endeavors,
16:56from missionary work to embarking on new voyages at sea. Their stories, connected to the tragedy of the
17:03Essex, serve as a powerful reminder of the strength and resilience of the human spirit in the face of
17:09great adversity. The legend of the Essex lives on through Herman Melville's timeless story, which
17:15paid tribute to the courage and resilience of its crew as they faced the fierce ocean. And as the years
17:21go by, their journey continues to inspire and amaze. An everlasting testament to human courage and the
17:29will to survive even in the darkest situations.
Comments