Essex (whaleship)
Videos
Page
Essex was an American whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts, which was launched in 1799. On November 20, 1820, while at sea in the southern Pacific Ocean under the command of Captain George Pollard Jr., the ship was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale. About 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) from the coast of South America, the 20-man crew was forced to make for land in three whaleboats with what food and water they could salvage from the wreck.
A whale striking Essex on November 20, 1820, depicted in a sketch by Thomas Nickerson
Owen Chase in later life
Thomas Nickerson in the 1870s
Whaler
Videos
Page
A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales.
Dutch whalers near Spitsbergen, painted by Abraham Storck.
Charles W. Morgan was a whaleship built in 1841
Harpoon ships of the Icelandic whaling fleet in port.
Anchor from whaling ship wreck site