French frigate Méduse (1810)
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Méduse was a 40-gun Pallas-class frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1810. She took part in the Napoleonic Wars during the late stages of the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811 and in raids in the Ca
Méduse sailing close-hauled with brigs in the background
Gun deck of Méduse
Aftercastle of Méduse, by Ambroise-Louis Garneray
Line-crossing ceremony aboard Méduse on 1 July 1816
Cannibalism at sea
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Cannibalism at sea was occasionally practiced in extreme cases of disaster, when there was not enough food for the survivors. Traditionally such cannibalism among shipwrecked survivors was considered
French frigate Méduse (1810)
…panic or swept overboard to drown. Rations dwindled rapidly; by the fourth day there were only 67 people left alive on the raft, and some resorted to cannibalism at sea to survive. On the eighth day, the fittest decided to throw the weak and wounded overboard, leaving just 15 men remaining, all of whom survived another…
Sketch of the Mignonette by Tom Dudley
A whale striking the Essex on 20 November 1820, depicted in a sketch by Thomas Nickerson
1799 illustration of a cabin boy. On Francis Spaight, the ship's four cabin boys were submitted to a lottery, which resulted in one of them being killed and eaten by the rest of the crew.
Théodore Géricault: The Raft of the Medusa