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83-551: After a month at sea the crew landed on the uninhabited Henderson Island . Three men elected to stay on the island, from which they were rescued in April 1821, while the remaining seventeen set off again for the coast of South America. The men suffered severe dehydration , starvation and exposure on the open ocean, and the survivors eventually resorted to cannibalism . By the time they were rescued in February 1821, three months after

166-555: A 27-year-old American, Robert Tomarchin, lived the life of a castaway on the island for approximately two months, accompanied by a pet chimpanzee, apparently as a publicity stunt, until people from Pitcairn rescued him in two longboats. In the early 1980s, the American businessman Arthur "Smiley" Ratliff expressed interest in establishing a mansion for himself on the island, with an airstrip. The Pitcairn Island Council approved his plans but, after environmentalists lobbied to protect

249-494: A blackened wasteland; he observed "neither trees, shrubbery, nor grass have since appeared". When Essex reached the hunting grounds about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) west of the Galápagos Islands, whales still proved elusive. When they finally found a whale on November 16, 1820, it surfaced directly beneath Chase's boat. No one was injured, but the boat required repairs. At eight in the morning of November 20, 1820,

332-476: A brackish spring on the north shore, exposed at half tide – and ate fish, birds, eggs, crabs and peppergrass , but within a week they had largely exhausted the readily available food. Therefore, on 27 December, the three boats set sail for South America, leaving behind Thomas Chappel, Seth Weeks and William Wright, who chose to stay and survived until their rescue several months later, on 9 April 1821. In 1902, Henderson Island, along with Oeno and Ducie islands,

415-462: A calculation error when the chart was produced. Since the introduction of aluminium-hulled long-boats in the 20th century, Pitcairners have made regular trips to Henderson to harvest the wood of miro and tou trees. Usually, they venture to Henderson once per year, but they may make up to three trips if the weather is favourable. Pitcairners carve the wood into curios for tourists, from which they derive much of their income. Henderson Island

498-466: A conversation he had with James Henderson at Valparaíso , to have been Henderson's discovery. On 20 November 1820, a sperm whale rammed and sank the Nantucket whaleship Essex (a report of which inspired Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick ), and the ship's 20 crewmen arrived at Henderson on 20 December in three small whaleboats . They found the island's only known drinkable water source –

581-418: A crew of only twenty. When whales were spotted the three whaleboats, each with an officer, a boatsteerer and four crew members, would go in pursuit. Without DeWitt, there would be only two crew members left aboard Essex , not enough to safely handle a ship of Essex ' s size and type. To restock their food supplies for the long journey, Essex sailed for Charles Island (later renamed Floreana Island ) in

664-428: A raised lagoon. There is only one known potable water source, a brackish spring on the north shore exposed at half tide, rising from a crevice in flat rock, large surfaces of which compose the face of the beach. The surrounding ocean tidal range is about 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) at spring tide . Apart from five species bordering the beaches, including coconut palms, the vegetation is undisturbed. Henderson Island

747-460: A ready and regular food supply may have contributed to the Polynesians' subsequent disappearance. The island has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area for its endemic landbirds and breeding seabirds. The invertebrate species are largely unknown but a third of the island's known non-marine gastropods and insects are endemic. There are no native mammals but

830-491: A reduction in the number of sea turtle laying attempts and may increase the risk of entanglement for coastal-nesting seabirds. In June 2019, an expedition organised by the UK Government attempted to remove some of the plastic debris from the island's East beach. The team collected six tonnes of rubbish, but weather conditions hampered efforts to take the rubbish off the island. Plastic gathered during this expedition

913-421: A timber, the crew of one boat had to lean to one side to raise the other side out of the water until another boat was able to draw close, allowing a sailor to nail a piece of wood over the hole. Storms and rough seas frequently plagued the tiny whaleboats, and the men who were not occupied with steering and trimming the sails spent most of their time bailing water from the bilge. Food and water were rationed from

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996-450: A vessel. After one voyage aboard a merchant vessel , he retired from the sea and became a night watchman on Nantucket. Every year on November 20, the anniversary of the sinking of Essex , he would lock himself in his room and observe a fast . He died in Nantucket on January 7, 1870, aged 78. Chase returned to Nantucket on June 11, 1821, to find he had a 14-month-old daughter he had never met. Four months later he had completed an account of

1079-568: A voyage with reconstructed traditional Polynesian boats was able to reach from Mangareva after merely a seventeen-and-a-half-day voyage. On 29 January 1606, Portuguese captain Pedro Fernandes de Queirós , leading a Spanish expedition in search of the fabled great south land ( Terra Australis ), was the first European to see the island, and named it San Juan Bautista . More than 200 years later, on 17 January 1819, Captain Henderson of

1162-474: Is a raised coral atoll that, with Pitcairn , Ducie and Oeno islands, forms the Pitcairn Island Group . The nearest major landmass is the continent of South America, more than 5,000 km (2,700 nmi; 3,100 mi) away to the east. This coral limestone island sits atop a conical (presumed volcanic) mound, rising from a depth of roughly 3,500 m (11,500 ft). Its surface

1245-454: Is an uninhabited island in the south Pacific Ocean . It is part of the Pitcairn Island Group , together with Pitcairn , Oeno , and Ducie Islands. Measuring 9.6 by 5.1 kilometres (6.0 mi × 3.2 mi), it has an area of 37.3 km (14.4 sq mi) and is located 193 km (104 nmi; 120 mi) northeast of Pitcairn Island , which is the only inhabited island of the group. It has poor soil and little fresh water, and

1328-553: Is covered by 5-to-10-metre (16 to 33 ft) tall tangled scrub forest , more thinly covered in the central depression. It has 51 native species of flowering plants, ten of which are endemic to the island. Dominant tree species include coconut palms , Pandanus tectorius , Thespesia populnea (miro), Heliotropium foertherianum , Cordia subcordata (tou), Guettarda speciosa , Pisonia grandis , Geniostoma hendersonense , Nesoluma st-johnianum , Hernandia stokesii , Myrsine hosakae , and Celtis sp. The island

1411-406: Is good evidence that the island was continuously occupied for a 600-year period sometime between those dates. The reasons for the inhabitants’ disappearance remain uncertain, but they may relate to an exhaustion of resources and to the disappearance around the same time of the Polynesians on Pitcairn Island , on whom those on Henderson would have relied for many of the basics of life, especially for

1494-481: Is home to four extant endemic land bird species – the Henderson fruit dove , Henderson lorikeet , Henderson reed warbler and the flightless Henderson crake . Three species of the family Columbidae – the Henderson ground dove , the Henderson imperial pigeon and the Henderson archaic pigeon – as well as the Henderson sandpiper , were formerly endemic to the island, but became extinct around 1000 AD after

1577-410: Is mostly reef-rubble and dissected limestone – an extremely rugged mixture of steep, jagged pinnacles and shallow sinkholes. The island is mostly encircled by steep limestone cliffs up to 15 m (50 ft) high. There are three main beaches, on the northwest, north, and northeast shores, and the north and northwest beaches are fringed by reefs. The depression at the island's centre is thought to be

1660-591: Is the matter?" I answered, "We have been stove by a whale." The cause of the whale's aggression is not known. In In the Heart of the Sea , author Nathaniel Philbrick speculated that it may have first struck the boat accidentally or have had its curiosity aroused by the sound of a hammer as the damaged whaleboat was being repaired. The frequency and sound of the nailing may have sounded similar to those made by bull sperm whales to communicate and echolocate . The crew spent

1743-506: Is unsuitable for agriculture. There are three beaches on the northern end and the remaining coast comprises steep (mostly undercut) cliffs up to 15 m (50 ft) in height. In 1902, it was annexed to the Pitcairn Islands colony, which is now a British Overseas Territory . Henderson is one of the last two raised coral atolls in the world whose ecosystems remain relatively unaffected by human contact, along with Aldabra in

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1826-650: The British East India Company ship Hercules rediscovered the island. Six weeks later, on 2 March 1819, Captain Henry King, of the Elizabeth , landed on the island to find the king's colours already flying. His crew scratched the name of their ship into a tree, and for a while the island was known as both Elizabeth and Henderson Island. Thomas Raine, master of the ship Surry of London, named it Henderson's Island because it appeared to him, from

1909-563: The Galápagos Islands . The crew needed to fix a serious leak and initially anchored off Hood Island (now known as Española Island ) on October 8, 1820. During a week at anchor, they captured 300 Galápagos giant tortoises to supplement the ship's food stores. They then sailed for Charles Island, where on October 22 they took another sixty tortoises. The tortoises weighed between 100 and 800 pounds (45 and 363 kg) each. The sailors captured them alive and allowed some of them to roam

1992-527: The Indian Ocean . In 1988, it was designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. Ten of its 51 flowering plants, all four of its land birds and about a third of the identified insects and gastropods are endemic – a remarkable diversity given the island's size. The island was settled by Polynesians – possibly as early as 800 AD – but by the 1600s it had been abandoned. There

2075-474: The New Bedford whaleship Winslow and the Nantucket whaleship Charles Carroll , in which he owned a share. Chase married again after the death of his second wife, only to divorce his third wife when he found out she had given birth sixteen months after he had last seen her, although he subsequently brought up the child as his own. In September 1840, two months after the divorce was finalized, he married for

2158-477: The Pacific rat , introduced by Polynesians 800 years ago, abounds. A skink ( Emoia cyanura ) and the green sea turtle have been identified, and an unidentified gecko has been reported. There are also crabs. Land bird populations appear to be relatively stable but there is a high risk of introduction to the island of predators, disease vectors, and diseases by unauthorized landings of yachts. Introduction of

2241-529: The Polynesian storm petrel , Marquesan imperial pigeon , and Polynesian or Pacific imperial pigeon which are no longer found on the island, and two others – Christmas shearwater and red-footed booby – that still visit but no longer nest. It is hypothesized that the Polynesian settlers may have driven these bird species, along with six terrestrial snail species, to local extinction, and this loss of

2324-634: The Rapa Nui language and Early Mangarevan , similarities between a statue found in Pitcairn and some found in Easter Island, resemblance of tool styles in Easter Island to those in Mangareva and Pitcairn, and correspondences of skulls found in Easter Island to two found in Henderson all suggest that Henderson and Pitcairn were early Mangareva stepping-stones to Easter Island, which, in 1999,

2407-544: The South Pacific . In January 1820 she met up with other whalers from Nantucket at St Mary's Island off the west coast of Chile. After several months searching for whales off the coast of Chile, Essex sailed north and met with more success off the coast of Peru . Within two months they had killed enough whales to produce 450 barrels of oil. In May 1820, Essex hailed Aurora , another whaler from Nantucket, whose captain told them that another whaling ground, known as

2490-535: The South Pacific Gyre . The beaches contain an estimated 37.7 million items of debris together weighing 17.6 tonnes (17.3 long tons; 19.4 short tons). In a study transect on North Beach, each day 17 to 268 new items washed up on a 10-metre (33 ft) section. The study noted that purple hermit crabs ( Coenobita spinosus ) make their homes in plastic containers washed up on beaches, and the debris may reduce shoreline gastropod diversity, may contribute to

2573-481: The frigate USS  Constellation under the care of the ship's surgeon. All the whaleboat survivors were Nantucketers. On March 23, Chase, Lawrence, Nickerson and Ramsdell set off for Nantucket in the whaleship Eagle . Pollard was still too weak to make the journey and followed them aboard Two Brothers in May. The commander of Constellation arranged the rescue of the three seamen who had stayed on what they thought

Essex (whaleship) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2656-469: The "offshore ground", had been discovered more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) off the Peruvian coast. Pollard decided that, after making provisioning stops, he would set sail for these new grounds, rather than stay in the depleted coastal grounds. In September 1820, Essex sailed to the Peruvian port town of Atacames (now part of Ecuador). It was here that Henry DeWitt jumped ship, leaving Essex with

2739-603: The Eurasian black rat or the domestic cat would be likely to cause almost immediate extinction of the ground-dwelling Henderson crake and possibly other species. The endemic birds may have no immunity to the fatal avian pox which is transmitted by biting flies such as Hippoboscidae . Between July and November 2011 a partnership of the Pitcairn Islands Government and the Royal Society for

2822-665: The Marquesas and Society Islands would have been safe destinations, as the inhabitants were at that time friendly towards mariners, but Pollard accepted the suggestion of Chase and Joy. Herman Melville later speculated that the crew would all have survived had they followed Pollard's recommendation and sailed to the Society Islands, writing: "All the sufferings of these miserable men of the Essex might, in all human probability, have been avoided had they immediately after leaving

2905-467: The Protection of Birds implemented a poison baiting programme aimed at eradicating the Pacific rat . Mortality was massive but of the 50,000 to 100,000 population, 60 to 80 individuals survived and the population has now fully recovered. Research published in April 2017 looked at debris on several beaches, and reported "the highest density of plastic rubbish anywhere in the world" as a result of

2988-861: The United States. Chappel retired from sailing and became a missionary; he died of plague fever in Timor . Wright was lost at sea in a hurricane in the West Indies . Weeks retired to Cape Cod , where he died on September 12, 1887, having outlived the rest of the Essex survivors. As well as inspiring much of American author Herman Melville's classic 1851 novel Moby-Dick , the story of the Essex tragedy has been dramatized in film, television, and music: 0°41′S 118°00′W  /  0.683°S 118.000°W  / -0.683; -118.000 Henderson Island (Pitcairn Islands) Henderson Island

3071-463: The anguish of our souls in this dreadful dilemma", Chase later recounted in his memoirs . On the morning of February 18, Lawrence, who was steering Chase's boat, spotted a sail a few miles distant. They managed to catch up with the vessel, which turned out to be the British ship Indian . Too weak to climb aboard the ship, Chase, Lawrence and Nickerson had to be lifted from their boat and carried to

3154-528: The arguments of Chase and Joy, the first and second mates, who wished to continue to the Azores. At the Cape Verde Islands the crew were able to purchase a whaleboat. Later, as Essex sailed down the east coast of South America, three months into the voyage, the first whale was killed. In the face of strong winds from the west, Essex took over a month to round Cape Horn into the whaling grounds of

3237-454: The arrival of Polynesians. Of the fifteen non-endemic seabird species found, nine or more are believed to breed on the island. Breeding colonies of the globally endangered Henderson petrel formerly existed on Ducie but were wiped out by invasive rats by 1922. It is believed to now nest uniquely on Henderson island. Bones associated with prehistoric Polynesian settlement sites dating to somewhere between 500 and 800 years ago include those of

3320-471: The beach there are bartenders situated in kiosks along the colorful beach shore that make a variety of local fruit shakes and juices. There a covered (though outdoor) line of booths called "covachas" where locals sell a variety of products such as hand made jewelry and handcrafts. Dozens of local women also earn a living by braiding and putting beads in hair. The food served in Atacames is typical for much of

3403-441: The beginning, with the men first consuming the bread that had been soaked in seawater, even though it increased their thirst. After ten days of eating only meagre rations of bread, they slaughtered the first of the giant tortoises that had been salvaged from the wreck and achieved a small respite from hunger. On December 20, exactly one month after the whale attack, with the men suffering from starvation , dehydration and exposure,

Essex (whaleship) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3486-408: The boats landed on uninhabited Henderson Island , a small uplifted coral atoll within the modern-day British territory of the Pitcairn Islands . The men incorrectly believed that they had landed on Ducie Island , a similar atoll 220 miles (350 km) to the east. Had they landed on Pitcairn Island itself, 120 miles (190 km) to the southwest, they might have received help; the descendants of

3569-439: The boatsteerers looked back and saw the ship falling on her beam-ends. The two boats hurriedly released their whales and rowed back to Essex . The captain's boat was the first that reached us. He stopped about a boat's length off, but had no power to utter a single syllable; he was so completely overpowered with the spectacle before him. He was in a short time, however, enabled to address the inquiry to me, "My God, Mr. Chase, what

3652-414: The body . Two days later Charles Shorter died and was eaten. Within a few days Isaiah Sheppard and Samuel Reed suffered a similar fate. On the night of January 29, the boats of Pollard and Hendricks became separated. Hendricks' boat lacked any navigational equipment and he and his two remaining crew members, William Bond and Joseph West, were never seen again. Months later a whaleboat with four skeletons in it

3735-629: The canton as of the Ecuadorian census of 2010: People travel from all over the world to enjoy Surfing in Ecuador . Playas beach also offers a wonderful climate all year round for Surfing . It is important to note that Sharks may be a hazard at this break. Salinas, Ecuador , was the site of the ISA World Junior Surfing Games Ecuador in 2009. Atacames has a busy night life, primarily because weather during

3818-423: The capital of that province, which is also called Esmeraldas. In 2022 Atacames town had a population of 18,948, while the canton had 51,204 (in the 2022 census). Atacames has one of the lowest rates of poverty in the province of Esmeraldas (68% in 2005). During Francisco Pizarro 's second conquest in 1526, he landed at Atacames. There he was unable to conquer or invade the land due to the resistance that he found in

3901-453: The captain's cabin. Later that day they came within sight of Más Afuera, the island towards which Chase had, with remarkable accuracy, been navigating. A few days later Indian sailed into the port of Valparaíso . The whaleboat, which was being towed behind Indian , was lost in a gale. On 23 February, ninety-three days after the sinking of Essex , Pollard and Ramsdell were spotted by the Nantucket whaleship Dauphin near St Mary's Island off

3984-463: The coast of Chile, where Essex had stopped over a year before. Pollard and Ramsdell were close to starvation, sucking on the bones of their dead shipmates and drifting in and out of consciousness when they were taken aboard Dauphin . They were then transferred to another Nantucket whaleship, Two Brothers , which was sailing for Valparaíso. On March 17 they reached the port and were reunited with Chase, Lawrence and Nickerson, who had been recovering on

4067-422: The coast. Although there were also other people groups present in Atacames in the 16th century, today Afro-Ecuadoreans make up a large portion of the population in Atacames. Tourism is Atacames's primary industry. For its population, Atacames has the highest level of hotels in the whole province of Esmeraldas. [2] It is also easily accessible by bus from Santo Domingo, Quito, and Esmeraldas. Ethnic groups in

4150-533: The coastal regions of Ecuador. Meals will often consist of shrimp, crab, lobster, and fish. Several of the citizens in Atacames fish, and thus much of the food that is served is fresh. In Atacames you can typically find delicious ceviches, encocados and all sorts of seafood and, as is typical in most of Ecuador, rice is generally served with the meal. A wide variety of fruit juices are also served, though beer (particularly Pilsener ), water, and carbonated beverages are also common. Vegetables, which are generally grown in

4233-574: The crew prepared to set sail in the whaleboats once again, three men – William Wright, Seth Weeks and Thomas Chappel, the only white members of the crew who were not natives of Nantucket – opted to stay behind on the island. Pollard promised, if he made it back to South America, to see that they were rescued. Pollard was true to his word, and the three men on Henderson Island were rescued by Surry , an Australian trading vessel, in April 1821. The remaining Essex crewmen, now numbering seventeen in three boats, resumed their journey on December 27 with

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4316-470: The day is hot and humid. Atacames provides services for tourists all year round, but the high season are weekends, Easter, Carnival, Christmas, and some weeks in the summer. Atacames is full of discotheques, and dance clubs that play the most recent hits from different styles of music such as salsa, merengue, and reggaeton. Atacames is also well known for its "caipirinhas", a Brazilian drink made from sugar cane alcohol, fresh lime juice and much ice. Along most of

4399-606: The disaster, the Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex ; Herman Melville used it as one of the inspirations for his 1851 novel Moby-Dick . Chase then sailed as first mate on the whaleship Florida , returning to Nantucket in 1823. His wife died after the birth of their third child, and he married the widow of former Essex mate Matthew Joy. He then captained

4482-503: The expedition became stranded on the island when their inflatable craft capsized. In 2021, Pitcairn Islanders participated in a scientific expedition to assess the effects of climate change. In March 2022 a Royal Navy survey by HMS Spey , as part of an effort to update maritime charts regarding British Overseas Territories, found the island to be 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) south of its indicated position. The existing data dates to an aerial survey in 1937, indicating

4565-408: The fourth and final time and retired from whaling. Chase died in Nantucket on March 7, 1869, aged 73. Lawrence captained the whaleships Dromo and Huron before retiring and buying a small farm at Siasconset on Nantucket. He died on Nantucket on March 28, 1879, aged 80. Ramsdell captained the whaleship General Jackson . He died on Nantucket on July 8, 1866, aged 62. Nickerson became a captain in

4648-446: The horizon away from Essex . Chase was repairing the damaged whaleboat on board Essex when the crew sighted an unusually large sperm whale bull (reportedly around 85 feet (26 m) in length) acting strangely. It lay motionless on the surface facing the ship and then began to swim towards the vessel, picking up speed by shallow diving. The whale rammed Essex , rocking her from side to side, and then dove under her, surfacing close on

4731-459: The intention of reaching Easter Island . On January 4, 1821, they estimated that they had drifted too far south of Easter Island and decided to make for Más Afuera Island off the coast of Chile. On the same day they exhausted their supply of fish and birds from Henderson Island and were back on daily rations of a cup of water and three ounces of bread. On January 10, Joy, who had been in poor health even before Essex left Nantucket, died; his body

4814-464: The local people who were at that time under the Incas . In the centuries after Spanish conquest, some slave ships came from Africa. In 1553 a ship carrying slaves from Panama to Peru was stranded on Esmeralda, and the 25 slaves on board managed to escape from their captors. [1] In the following years more escaped slaves, along with the descendants of the former slaves, developed some of the lands along

4897-419: The lookout sighted spouts, and the three remaining whaleboats set out to pursue a pod of sperm whales. On the leeward side of Essex , Chase's whaleboat harpooned a whale, but its tail struck the boat and opened up a seam, forcing the crew to cut the harpoon line and return to Essex for repairs. Two miles away off the windward side, Pollard's and Joy's boats each harpooned a whale and were dragged towards

4980-977: The merchant service and moved to Brooklyn , New York . Late in his life he returned to Nantucket, where he ran a boarding house for summer visitors and wrote an account of the sinking, titled The Loss of the Ship "Essex" Sunk by a Whale and the Ordeal of the Crew in Open Boats . Nickerson wrote this account fifty-six years after the sinking, in 1876, and it was lost until 1960; the Nantucket Historical Association published it in 1984. He died in February 1883, aged 77. The three men, Chappel, Weeks and Wright, who had been rescued from Henderson Island continued to work as crew members of their rescue ship Surry before making their way back to England and

5063-488: The natural ecology and environment of the island, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office overrode the decision and vetoed the proposed development. Henderson Island was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1988. In 2019, a group of scientists, journalists, film makers, and artists took part in an expedition to Henderson Island to investigate plastic pollution and marine litter on the island. Five members of

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5146-494: The next two days salvaging what supplies remained from the waterlogged wreck of Essex . Three whaleboats were rigged with makeshift masts and sails were taken from Essex , and boards were added to heighten the gunwales and prevent large waves from spilling over the sides. Inside Pollard's sea chest, which Bond's quick thinking had managed to save, were two sets of navigational equipment and two copies of maritime charts. These were split between Pollard's and Chase's boats; Joy's boat

5229-419: The ship at will; the rest they kept in the hold. They believed the tortoises were capable of living for a year without eating or drinking water (though in fact the tortoises slowly starved). While hunting on Charles Island, Chappel lit a fire as a prank. It was the height of the dry season, and the fire quickly burned out of control, surrounding the hunters and forcing them to run through the flames to escape. By

5312-478: The ship could be stocked with provisions more cheaply than at Nantucket. A few days into the voyage, Essex was hit by a sudden squall in the Gulf Stream . She was knocked on her beam-ends and nearly sank; damages included the loss of her topgallant sail and two whaleboats, with an additional whaleboat sustaining minor damage. Pollard's initial thought was to return to Nantucket for repairs, but he accepted

5395-487: The ship's starboard side. As its head lay alongside the bow and the tail by the stern, it was motionless and appeared to be stunned. Chase prepared to harpoon it from the deck when he realized that its tail was only inches from the rudder , which the whale could easily destroy if provoked by an attempt to kill it. Fearing to leave the ship stuck thousands of miles from land with no way to steer it, Chase hesitated. The whale recovered, swam several hundred yards forward of

5478-404: The ship, and turned to face the ship's bow. I turned around and saw him about one hundred rods [500 m or 550 yards] directly ahead of us, coming down with twice his ordinary speed of around 24 knots (44 km/h), and it appeared with tenfold fury and vengeance in his aspect. The surf flew in all directions about him with the continual violent thrashing of his tail. His head about half out of

5561-539: The sinking of Essex , only five of the seventeen were alive. First mate Owen Chase and cabin boy Thomas Nickerson later wrote accounts of the ordeal. The tragedy attracted international attention, and inspired Herman Melville to write his 1851 novel, Moby-Dick . When Essex departed from Nantucket , Massachusetts , on her fateful voyage in August 1819, she was considered to be a lucky vessel, as her previous six whaling expeditions had brought in good profits. She

5644-667: The stone needed to make tools. The Pitcairn Polynesians may in turn have disappeared because of the decline of nearby Mangareva ; thus, Henderson was at the end of a chain of small, dependent colonies of Mangareva. The Polynesians that disappeared may have later migrated further to a bigger island to the east in Easter Island , for it has been noted that the jumping-off points for the early Polynesian colonization of Easter Island originally from Mangareva are more likely to have been from Pitcairn and Henderson, which lie about halfway between Mangareva and Easter. Great similarity between

5727-491: The survivors of HMS  Bounty , who had famously mutinied in 1789, still lived there. On Henderson Island, Essex ' s crew found food in the form of birds, eggs, crabs, fish and peppergrass but water proved more difficult to find, although they eventually came across a freshwater spring below the tideline. After just one week, they had largely exhausted the island's food resources. On December 26, they concluded they would starve if they remained much longer. As most of

5810-436: The time the men returned to Essex , almost the entire island was burning and Pollard swore vengeance on whoever had set it. The next day, the island was still burning as the ship sailed for the offshore grounds; even after a full day of sailing, the fire was still visible on the horizon. Chappel would only admit that he had set the fire much later after Essex sank. Many years later, Nickerson returned to Charles Island and found

5893-532: The water, and in that way he came upon us, and again struck the ship. The whale crushed the bow, driving the vessel backwards, and then finally disengaged its head from the shattered timbers and swam off, leaving Essex quickly going down by the bow. Chase and the remaining sailors retrieved the spare whaleboat while the steward, William Bond, ran below to gather the captain's sea chest and whatever navigational aids he could find. The whaleboats of Pollard and Joy were about 2 miles (3.2 km) from Essex when one of

5976-421: The wreck, steered straight for Tahiti , from which they were not very distant at the time. But they dreaded cannibals". The crew were divided between the three boats, under the command of Pollard, Chase and Joy, and on November 22, 1820, set off for land. Never designed for long voyages, all the whaleboats had been very roughly repaired, and leaks were a constant and serious problem during the voyage. After losing

6059-470: Was 26-year-old Matthew Joy. The three boatsteerers were Obed Hendricks and Benjamin Lawrence, both 20 years old and from Nantucket, and Englishman Thomas Chappel. At age 14, cabin boy Thomas Nickerson was the youngest member of the crew, while at least five more were under the age of 20 (the ages of most of the black crew members not being known). Essex departed from Nantucket on August 12, 1819, on what

6142-564: Was Ducie Island (actually Henderson Island). He asked the captain of an Australian trading vessel Surry , which was returning to Australia, to stop at Ducie Island and pick up the survivors. When they found Ducie Island uninhabited, the captain of Surry wondered if the officers of Essex had confused Ducie and Henderson Islands and decided to sail on to Henderson Island, where they found Chappel, Weeks and Wright on April 9. Pollard returned to sea in early 1822 to captain Two Brothers . She

6225-578: Was afraid they would encounter cannibals there and concluded that it would be better to sail to the Society Islands , about 2,000 miles (3,200 km). Chase and Joy disagreed, fearing that the Society islanders might be cannibals, and suggested sailing south for about 1,500 miles (2,400 km) and then picking up a band of variable winds to take them to the coast of Chile or Peru, all the time hoping to come across another whaleship. In fact, both

6308-485: Was consigned to the sea. Pollard's boatsteerer, Obed Hendricks, took over the command of Joy's boat. The following day, Chase's boat became separated from the others during a squall. On January 20, Richard Peterson died on Chase's boat and his body too was buried at sea. On the same day, more than 100 miles (160 km) to the north, Lawson Thomas died on Hendricks' boat. By this time the provisions on Pollard's and Hendricks' boats had almost run out, and they decided to eat

6391-558: Was expected to be a roughly two-and-a-half-year voyage to the whaling grounds off the west coast of South America. The route towards Cape Horn was an indirect one dictated by the prevailing winds of the Atlantic Ocean . First the ship would sail with the westerlies towards Europe and Africa, and then back towards South America with the northeast trade winds . There were scheduled stops at the Azores and Cape Verde Islands , where

6474-491: Was formally annexed to the British Empire by Captain G. F. Jones, who visited the islands in a cutter with a crew of Pitcairn Islanders. In August 1937, HMS Leander , on a journey from Europe to New Zealand, carried out an aerial survey of Henderson, Oeno and Ducie, and, on each island, a British flag was planted and an inscription was nailed up proclaiming: "This island belongs to H.B.M. King George VI". In 1957,

6557-480: Was found washed up on Ducie Island, and it was suggested that the boat was Hendricks'. By February 6, the crew of Pollard's boat were again starving. It was decided to draw lots, and Owen Coffin was shot and eaten. Five days later Barzillai Ray died and was eaten by Pollard and Charles Ramsdell. Meanwhile, the men in Chase's boat had resorted to cannibalism when Isaac Cole died on February 10. "I have no language to paint

6640-411: Was left without any means of navigating except to keep within sight of the other boats. Essex sank approximately 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) west of South America. The officers debated which route to take towards land. Pollard favoured sailing west with the prevailing winds and current. The nearest islands to the west were Marquesas Islands , about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) away, but Pollard

6723-453: Was taken for recycling, being manufactured into new objects for use on Pitcairn Island and other island communities in the region. A followup expedition in July 2022 collected further plastic. Atacames Atacames is a beach town and surround canton located on Ecuador 's Northern Pacific coast. It is located in the province of Esmeraldas , approximately 30 kilometers south west from

6806-699: Was twenty years old and had been refitted during the summer. At only 88 feet (27 m) in length, and measuring about 239 tons burthen , Essex was small for a whaling ship. She was equipped with five whaleboats , each about 28 ft (8.5 m) in length. Essex set sail with a crew of twenty-one men. Twelve, including the officers and two of the three boatsteerers, were born or raised in Nantucket while nine were off-islanders, of whom seven were black. The captain, 29-year-old George Pollard Jr. , had sailed as second mate of Essex in 1815-1816, and as first mate in 1817-1819. The first mate, 21-year-old Owen Chase , had sailed on Essex in 1817-1819. The second mate

6889-574: Was wrecked on the French Frigate Shoals to the northwest of the Sandwich Islands during Pollard's first voyage as her captain. The crew, which included Nickerson and Ramsdell, took to two whaleboats and were picked up the following day by the whaleship Martha , who had been sailing with them. This wreck was to end Pollard's whaling career; he was considered a doomed captain, or "Jonah", whom no whaleship owner would trust with

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