DON'T MISS THE MAJOR FILM INSPIRED BY CHASE'S NARRATIVE,IN THE HEART OF THE SEA
On 20 November 1820, just south of the equator, the whaling shipEssex, spotted and pursued a shoal of sperm whales. As the crew started harpooning, the largest whale some 85 feet long rammed theEssextwice and 'stove in her bows'. What followed was an epic three-month voyage in open boats across storm-tossed seas. Only eight men survived, sustained by eating those who died.
This edition includes Owen Chasess famous account, as well as memoirs by two other crew members and a facsimile of Herman Melville's notes on Chases narrative.
Owen Chase was born in 1797 and worked as a whaler in Nantucket. In November 1820, the whale shipEssex, of which Chase was First Mate, was struck and sunk by a sperm whale. His subsequent account of the three-month-long ordeal that followed was published in 1821 and inspired Herman Melville to writeMoby-Dick. Afterwards, Chase continued to work as a whaler, embarking on several further expeditions until 1840. Despite many years at sea he married four times during this period. Chases latter years were haunted by memories of the disaster and he was eventually institutionalised. He died in 1869.
