July 27, 2025 • 28 mins
The infamous true story that inspired Moby Dick unfolds in horrifying detail as we follow the crew of the Essex after their ship is deliberately rammed and sunk by an enraged sperm whale in November 1820. Twenty men, now stranded in three tiny whaleboats in the vast Pacific Ocean, face a harrowing fight for survival that will push them beyond human endurance.
With their vessel destroyed in just ten minutes, the crew salvages what little they can—600 pounds of hardtack, limited water, and navigation equipment—before making a fateful decision that will seal their fate. Despite closer islands to the west, fear of cannibalism and cultural prejudices lead them to attempt an impossible 3,000-mile journey to South America instead of the much closer Tahiti. It's a choice born of misinformation that transforms their ordeal from difficult to catastrophic.
What follows is a nauseating descent into the depths of human suffering. The men subsist on mere ounces of hardtack and thimblefuls of water daily while enduring relentless sun, salt spray that opens wounds on their skin, and the psychological torment of isolation. Their bodies begin to consume themselves—first fat, then muscle—leaving them as living skeletons adrift in an ocean so barren it would later be named the Desolate Region.
The physical horrors of extreme dehydration are described in excruciating detail: thickened saliva, swollen tongues, hallucinations, and eventually tears of blood as their bodies mummify while still alive. When one crewman spots land on the horizon, we're left wondering whether salvation awaits—or if something far darker lies ahead in the next installment of this maritime nightmare.
Subscribe now to hear the conclusion of this extraordinary tale of survival, where human endurance is tested against the most extreme conditions imaginable. Leave a rating or review and share with friends who appreciate history's darkest chapters brought vividly to life.
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Special thank you to Lunarfall Audio for producing and doing all the heavy lifting on audio editing since April 13, 2025, the Murder of Christopher Meyer episode https://lunarfallaudio.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Last week our merry band of whalemen survived a
major setback as their ship wasnearly capsized in a storm.
Now they've made it around CapeHorn and have set out for the
Galapagos Islands for a bit ofturtle hunting and some fun in
the sun, before hitting theoffshore grounds, not knowing
(00:22):
that disaster lurks just aroundthe corner.
So what happened?
I'm Andrew and this isHistory's A Disaster.
Welcome back to part two of theEssex Tragedy.
(00:43):
Want to make one littlecorrection?
Part 2 of the Essex TragedyWant to make one little
correction.
This series is based largely onNathaniel Philbrick's book In
the Heart of the Sea, I believelast week I called it just Heart
of the Sea.
This book was based largely ona manuscript written by cabin
boy Thomas Nickerson, amanuscript that was written over
50 years after the accident andsubsequently lost until 1960,
(01:08):
where it would gounauthenticated until 1980,
before finally being firstpublished in 1984.
And with that let's get into it.
The Essex, on its way to theGalapagos Islands, made a stop
at a tiny village in Ecuadorcalled Atames.
While there, they picked upsome fresh fruits and vegetables
(01:31):
and even did a little hunting,which, with the lack of a
hunting dog, led them to usingyoung Thomas as one to flush out
some prey, which was cut shortwhen they got scared off by a
terrifying sound in the jungle,a sound Thomas would discover
years later came from a verytiny bird.
And to make things worse,during the stop Henry DeWitt,
(01:55):
one of the sailors, deserted theship and refused to go on.
Can't say I blame him.
Atamas was often described as aGarden of Eden by sailors, and
I would take that over.
Being cramped in a tiny-assship any day.
With the loss of the wit, theEssex would now be shorthanded
(02:15):
and would leave the ship withonly two people on board when
the whale boats went out, whichwould not be good if the ship
were to run into trouble.
After leaving Atamas, they madethe six-day voyage to the
Galapagos.
On the way they managed to gettwo more whales, which would
help to shorten their voyage.
With any luck they would nothave to stay out more than a
(02:39):
year and a half to fill the holdwith oil.
However, luck was not with themon this little trip.
The Essex sprung a leak.
They had to take shelter in asmall bay on Hood Island in the
Galapagos and work on repairs.
And while the ship was beingrepaired, the men went turtle
hunting.
In total, they would catch 180turtles to bring with them on
(03:02):
the voyage.
After the repairs were finallymade, they made their way to
Charles Island, where theycaught another 100 turtles, one
of which weighed over 600 poundsand required six men to carry
back.
During the hunt, one of the boatsteerers, thomas Chappell,
decided to play a little prank.
He set fire to some bushes andsince we're near the equator, in
(03:27):
an area that sees little to norain, and it was during a dry
season, the island was just atiny bit more flammable than
usual.
The fire roared around theisland, trapping the hunting
crew.
In the interior, they wereforced to have to run through
the flames to get to safety.
The interior, they were forcedto have to run through the
flames to get to safety.
(03:47):
While none of the crew wasinjured, captain Pollard was
pissed.
The island would burn for daysand remain a scorched wasteland
for many years.
The fire killed thousands ofbirds, lizards, turtles and
snakes.
It was a major ecologicaldisaster.
It was a major ecologicaldisaster.
By November 16th, the Essex hadsailed a thousand miles west of
(04:12):
the Galapagos.
They were deep in the largestocean on the planet, an area the
Nantucket Whalemen knew well.
They'd been traveling andwhaling here for over 30 years.
However, whale sightings werefew and far between.
Efforts to catch any proveduseless and during one encounter
, when Chase's boat was out andwaiting for a whale to surface,
(04:39):
they were once again hit by awhale, leaving the crew to cling
to the damaged whale boat.
While they waited for rescue,lacking extra boats, they worked
desperately to get it repaired.
It would be four days later, onthe 20th, another whale was
spotted early in the morning.
It was bright and sunny, theperfect weather for hunting.
(05:01):
The Essex got to within a halfmile of the sighting before
lowering the whale boats andturning to back away from the
area.
Once again, chase's crew led thechase for the whale and once
again they ran into trouble.
They got too close to the whaleand when it was hit with the
harpoon it flicked its tail andhit the tiny whale boat,
(05:22):
smashing its side and ripping ahole in it.
Tail and hit the tiny whaleboat, smashing its side and
ripping a hole in it.
One man would have toconstantly bail out water as
they rode back to the Essex,anxious to get on with the hunt.
Chase did a quick repair job onthe hole with some canvas so
they could get back into it.
Pollard and Joy had alreadyboth caught whales and were
(05:44):
starting the return trips.
While the repair was being made,the largest whale they had ever
seen was spotted just off theport side of the boat.
It was acting strangely, justfloating on the surface staring
at them.
It eventually dove down, thenresurfaced 35 yards from the
Essex.
Slowly it picked up speed, itsmammoth head cutting through the
(06:08):
water and leaving waves in itswake.
It was aimed directly at theport side of the ship.
They tried to turn, but feet inthe crash.
(06:30):
Surprise rippled through thecrew.
Never before had a whaleknowingly attacked the ship.
The whale dove down beneath theship, bumping it hard enough to
rip off the false keel, amassive 6 by 12 inch piece of
lumber.
The whale surfaced just feetfrom the starboard side of the
ship.
Stunned from the crash, it justfloated alongside, regaining
(06:54):
its composure.
The whale swam away 600 yards,the enraged beast snapping its
jaws and thrashing its tail inthe ocean before turning and
crossing in front of the Essex.
Again, it turns around hundredsof yards directly ahead of the
Essex and drives directly at theship.
Unable to get out of the way,the Essex takes the hit.
(07:15):
On the port side, the shipcracks and splinters with a
massive blow.
It's brought to a standstill bythe whale.
Not finished with the Essex,the whale beats its massive tail
and shoves the ship backwardsthrough the water.
Satisfied, the whale had putthe ship in its place, it backs
away and disappears, never to beseen again.
(07:44):
But now the Essex was fucked.
Water filled the lower decks.
It was going down bow.
First.
The forecastle was the first togo under, then the blubber room
and steerage.
While it sank, the ship'ssteward retrieved the captain's
and mate's sea chest, whichcontained much-needed navigation
(08:05):
equipment.
Chase and his crew rescued thespare whale boat.
As the ship listed dangerouslyto the side, they barely got
away before the Essex wascapsized completely.
The whole ordeal took less than10 minutes.
Not knowing what happened to theEssex, only that it had
disappeared from sight, the twowhaling crews dumped their
(08:26):
catches into the ocean and spedfor where they thought the Essex
should be.
They reached the site to findeight men crowded in the whale
boat they managed to save.
Pollard arrived first andstopped to watch the ship.
After hearing what became ofthe Essex, pollard began issuing
orders.
They needed to save as muchfood and fresh water as possible
(08:49):
.
To do this they needed to cutaway the mass so the partially
submerged ship could try toright itself.
They somewhat succeeded.
The ship righted itself to a 45degree angle.
However, most of the food andfresh water was unreachable in
the lower holds.
They managed to save over 600pounds of hardtack and more
(09:11):
fresh water than the whale boatscould safely hold.
Tools and other equipment weresalvaged, along with a musket
and two pistols and two poundsof ship nails.
Several turtles and two hogsswam to the boats for safety,
with no other plan and needingthe shelter of the ship from the
wind.
They spent the night tied tothe remains of the Essex.
(09:34):
It was a long and sleeplessnight for most of the crew, now
trapped on the whale boats andlistening to the sounds of the
Essex creaking crack in thenight.
What had been their home fornearly a year was slowly sinking
beneath the waves.
A guard was posted throughoutthe night to watch for debris
that could damage the boat orany other potential dangers.
(09:54):
The next morning they returnedto the waterlogged deck of the
Essex to search for anything ofuse that might have floated up
from below decks.
They found nothing, withnothing left for them to find
they prepared to leave the shipbehind.
They stripped what they couldto rig the whale boats with
(10:18):
masts and sails, each boat usingpieces to form two masts and
sails to go with it.
They also used boards to buildup the sides of the boats by
over half a foot.
This would be critical tokeeping water out of the little
boats.
They would also need to protectthe hardtack, the only real
food they had from the saltwater.
(10:38):
So it was wrapped in canvas andstored in the rear of the ship,
which also made it easier forthe officer in charge of the
boat to watch over it and rationit out.
When darkness fell, they wereforced to quit working on the
boats and tie up to the Essexfor another long, sleepless
night ahead.
By morning the Essex was slowlybreaking apart, the boards and
(11:01):
deck separated slowly.
In the waves, burst casks ofoil bled into the water
surrounding the boats with ayellow, stinky film.
Soon the boats were covered init, adding to the crew's torment
as they slipped on it as theymoved about the boat.
With preparations complete,they now had to make a plan.
(11:21):
A meeting was held between theofficers as they referred to
their charts and took whatnavigational readings they could
.
They poured over their copiesof Boundage's Navigator, which
had lists of friendly islandsalong with their latitude and
longitudinal locations.
Their options were severelylimited.
The listings were out of dateand their boats now equipped
(11:44):
with sails, they were once againat the mercy of the winds.
The closest island to the westwas the Marquesas, just a measly
1,200 miles away.
However, unconfirmed rumors ofcannibalism and ritualistic
homosexual activity which I'mnot exactly sure what that meant
(12:05):
, but, being Prudish Quakers,anything homosexual was anathema
Practice among the tribes theremeant it should be avoided at
all costs.
Other islands were discountedfor similar reasons.
As the discussion wore on, itwas eventually decided to try to
make for the South Americancoast.
(12:25):
They figured they could make itin roughly 56 days and with
only 60 days worth of food andwater they'd be cutting it close
if they ran into trouble.
The out-of-date charts and lackof knowledge severely screwed
them over.
One of the islands theydismissed, and was relatively
(12:49):
close, was Tahiti, which hadbeen a well-established English
settlement for nearly 30 years.
Pollard had originally wantedto head here, but Joy and Chase
talked him out of it and setforth a horrible chain of events
.
With the plan set, theyre-divided the crew, pollard's
(13:09):
and Joy's boat would take sevenmen.
Chase's damaged boat would takeonly six.
And of course, the clannishnessof the Nantucketers was still
going strong when they dividedup the men, with Pollard taking
the most native Nantucketers wasstill going strong when they
divided up the men, with Pollardtaking the most native
Nantucketers, and Joy, being thelowest rank, had mostly black
(13:30):
sailors on his boat.
While each boat was stilltechnically under Pollard's
command, they each retained alevel of autonomy, since there
was a risk they could beseparated at any time during the
voyage.
Since there was a risk theycould be separated at any time
during the voyage, each boat wasgiven 200 pounds of hardtack,
(13:52):
65 gallons of fresh water andtwo of the Galapagos turtles.
And to ensure that order wasstrictly maintained, each mate
was given a pistol, whilePollard kept the musket for
himself.
With that they set sail and letthe remains of the Essex to its
fate.
By late afternoon it was nolonger visible and the morale
amongst the crew improved, nolonger having to see their
(14:13):
former home destroyed andsinking.
From the beginning, they madeevery effort to remain together.
Staying together helpedmaintain morale and keep
everyone's spirits up.
Plus, with the lack ofnavigation equipment.
It was a necessity.
While Pollard and Chase hadcompasses and charts, joy had
(14:34):
none.
If they got separated he wouldbe lost at sea with no means of
navigating At night.
They kept as close as theycould and spent the night
talking.
They were 500 miles north and afive day sail from the offshore
grounds, and they figured theirbest hope for salvation was to
cut through the grounds and getpicked up by another whale ship.
(14:56):
They were hopeful, but it was atall order.
The offshore grounds were 300miles north to south and 2,000
miles east to west, so there wasa very slim chance of catching
one of the few ships in thisvast stretch of ocean.
While they hoped for this, theycouldn't spend time in the area
(15:17):
searching.
Given their lack of provisions,they had to stick with the plan
to head to South America.
They were hard pressed to makewhat they had.
Last two months they werelimited to six ounces of
hardtack and half a pint ofwater per day.
This would be the equivalent ofonly eating six slices of bread
a day and hardly any water.
(15:39):
And this while on the openwater under the blazing sun.
They had the turtles, but withonly two of them in each boat,
they wouldn't do much to bolstertheir diets.
They would be half-starved bythe time they made it to land
During their first night.
They quickly ate their food anddrink, but they had another
issue to deal with.
(15:59):
They had no tobacco.
So they not only had hardly anyfood, they were starting to go
through the jitters of nicotinewithdrawal.
So it would be another long,sleepless night for most of the
crew.
(16:20):
The winds were high, but theboat stayed close by throughout
the night.
The wind and constant assaultfrom the sea spray soon started
opening sores on the men'sexposed skin.
Daily rituals started todevelop.
Amongst them, chase kept adaily journal on what was
happening.
Others took to shaving.
Benjamin Lawrence took totwisting pieces of rope together
(16:42):
into an ever-increasing lengthof twine.
They stopped to take readingsto determine how far they
traveled and where they were.
They figured they were slightlyahead of schedule.
However, given the lack ofequipment and knowledge and just
not wanting to deal with it,pollard gave up trying to keep
up with their longitudinallocation and only figured their
(17:05):
latitude.
So they were basically sailingblind, with no way to determine
how far they were from SouthAmerica.
During a powerful gale, Chase'salready fucked up boat twisted
in the rough wind, it quicklytook on water and they had to
bail frantically to keep fromsinking.
During this, a large portion oftheir hardtack took on water.
(17:27):
They managed to save most of it, but a large portion was now
absolutely filled with salt.
Not good when you're alreadywater deprived.
Eventually, the boat was takingin more water than they could
bail and a leak was discoveredbelow the waterline.
They got the boat leaningenough to get the hole above
(17:48):
water and, working from Polard'sboat Chase, was able to hammer
the planks back together and fixthe leak.
In the days that followed, theymade good progress south.
However, they were travelingstraight south and no closer to
South America, and since theseboats weren't designed for this,
(18:11):
they had a tendency to pull tothe right, taking them away from
where they needed to go.
And the wind was no help.
It blowed them in the directionthey needed only to turn it
away and push them farther fromshore.
One night, while they sailed ina close formation, pollard
shouted out His boat had beenattacked by an orca.
(18:32):
They beat it off with poles,but not before it cracked the
stern of the ship.
It was now Pollard's turn tomake desperate repairs, but once
repaired, they were on theirway again.
Thirst was becoming a majorproblem on Chase's boat.
They had started eating thesalty hardtack, which only made
things worse.
(18:52):
They were starting to sufferfrom hypernatremia, a condition
where excessive sodium causedconvulsions in the body.
They figured what caused it,but they had no choice but to
keep eating the hardtack.
They had no other provisionsand they needed it to survive
the trip.
The wear and tear of being onthe rough ocean was starting to
(19:15):
show on the boats.
The plates were starting topull apart and they constantly
needed to be bailed out.
Soon the hunger overtook theirneed for water.
So they killed one of their twoturtles First, by splitting its
throat, and each man takingturns to drink its blood.
They collected it in their tincups to drink from, a few,
(19:37):
understandably, couldn't do it.
They couldn't get past thethought of drinking blood.
No one, however, turned downall that meat.
As they cooked the turtle inits shell, they greedily tore
into the first food they'd hadother than hardtack for days.
Their hunger led them to diginto the rich, fatty meat.
There was enough for each manto have three pounds of meat, a
(20:01):
pound of fat and half a cup ofblood.
A lot of food for men whoseshrunken bellies were starving,
and they devoured the wholeturtle.
None would be saved for later.
They had clear sailing for thenext several days.
Pollard had taken anavigational reading and
determined they were ahead ofschedule After eating their fill
of turtle.
The men in Chase's boat werefeeling good, had taken a
navigational reading anddetermined they were ahead of
(20:22):
schedule.
After eating their fill ofturtle, the men in Chase's boat
were feeling good.
The only thing they lacked waswater.
They were still severelydehydrated but they eventually
finished off the damagedhardtack and things would
improve slightly.
They were still dehydrated butthey were no longer taking in
extra salt and making thingsworse.
(20:48):
Over the next few days bothJoy's then Chase's boat would
take turns, becoming separatedfrom the rest.
Realizing a lot of time wasbeing lost trying to keep
everyone together, they decidedif they became separated they
would be on their own.
Plus, if something were tohappen to one boat there
(21:09):
wouldn't be much the otherscould do.
Everyone was already overloadedand adding to it would just
lead to disaster for everyone.
But the impulse to staytogether was strong and they did
everything they could not toseparate.
They fought through a terriblestorm overnight.
Forty-foot waves crashed aroundthem.
(21:30):
As the whale boats rode thecrest of the waves, high winds
battered them from side to side.
They had tried to collect freshwater from the rains and the
sails.
However, the sails were sobadly salted from the sea spray
that the water was worse thanthe seawater.
They managed to survive thestorm and stay together, but as
(21:52):
they sailed further south thewaves kept slapping over the
sides of the boats.
Failing them out was a constantchore.
After taking anothernavigational reading, pollard
determined they were still aheadof schedule.
They had traveled 1,100 miles,but with the wind they were
pushed even farther away fromtheir destination.
(22:13):
They were still close to 3,000miles away, starving and thirsty
At this point.
If they headed west, they wouldhave been in Tahiti within a
week.
They chose not to and pushed onto South America.
On December 9th, 17 days sinceleaving the Essex, pollard got
(22:34):
separated from the rest.
Chase and Joy ignored what theywere supposed to do and looked
and waited.
In the morning, pollard's sailwas spotted and the three boats
were reunited by the 18th day.
Their hunger and thirst gotworse.
There was a major temptation todig into the rations, which
would have doomed them all.
(22:55):
Chase took to sleeping with anarm or leg over his sea chest,
with the pistol next to him, incase anyone got any ideas about
raiding their food.
They would catch a lucky breakwhen flying fish jumped over and
landed in the boat.
These were eagerly devouredwhole scales and all but the
(23:16):
wind was giving them hell.
One day they'd make good timeand able to turn toward South
America.
One day they'd make good timeand able to turn towards South
America, and then nothing.
The winds would die down andthey'd be stuck, often for days.
Their timeline was getting shotto shit, realizing they would
never make the time theyallotted.
Chase cut rations in half.
The crew was now down to threeounces of hardtack a day.
(23:44):
The water situation was worse,but Chase was reluctant to cut
its rationing.
They were seriously sufferingfrom dehydration.
Seawater would have made itworse, but they tried anyways.
They tried drinking their ownpiss.
Nothing helped.
They were hitting thecottonmouth stage of thirst.
During this stage, salivathickens and the tongue sticks
(24:07):
the teeth in the roof of theirmouths.
A lump forms in their throats,speech becomes hard.
They're constantly wracked withpain.
Their skin shrinks and ispulled tight against their
skulls.
Hearing becomes difficult asthey start to hallucinate.
Eventually, the tonguecontinues to harden and swell.
Speech becomes impossibleexcept for moans of pain.
(24:30):
They're being mummified alive.
The eyelids start to crack asthey cry tears of blood.
Swelling in the throat makesbreathing difficult.
Adding to this was the sunconstantly beating down on them.
The heat was stifling.
A few of the men dipped over theside of the gunwale, which led
(24:50):
to the discovery of barnaclesattached to the underside of the
boat.
They eagerly plucked them fromthe boat and devoured them.
They were so hungry they wereunsuccessful in saving any for
later.
Just as a side note, here theywere now in an area that would
later be called the DesolateRegion.
Being so far from any type oflandmass, the only nutrients
(25:15):
available would be way down,deep at the bottom, leaving the
surface unable to support anysort of marine life or even
birds flying that far.
So being able to do stuff like,possibly, fish to supplement
their diets was out of thequestion, and they were stuck in
this region.
The wind had died completelyand they were stuck.
(25:38):
After fixing another leaf thatsprung up in Chase's boat,
pollard made a decision.
After being stuck there with nowind, pollard ordered double
rations for the men during theday, then that night they would
row for all they were worthuntil they hit the wind again.
The men became excited andlooked forward to having
(25:58):
something to do along with morefood and drink.
Looked forward to havingsomething to do along with more
food and drink.
Now this plan sounds good onpaper, but these men were not in
prime condition.
They were starved.
Their bodies had alreadyconsumed what body fat they had
and made even sitting painful.
After the fat was gone, musclewas burned up for energy.
(26:20):
They were down to barely morethan skin and bones.
They tried their best, but theact of rowing was near
impossible.
They made no progress at all.
With luck, the next day the windpicked up again.
They were moving, not in theright direction, but moving is
better than nothing.
Morale was taking a nosedive asthey traveled further south,
(26:43):
but then a ray of hope wasspotted, as someone shouted out.
They spotted an island.
And with the discovery of theisland, that is where we are
going to call it a day for thisweek.
So come back next week for thehappy conclusion to this tale,
where everybody lives happilyever after and no one is forced
(27:07):
to eat another person to survive, because that's what we do here
.
Tell happy disaster storieswhere no one ever dies
horrifically and everyonesurvives.
Anyways, thanks for listeningand if you liked the show,
please consider leaving a ratingor review on your app of choice
.
And you can reach the show athistoryisadisaster at gmailcom
(27:32):
with questions, comments orsuggestions, and follow the show
on social media like Facebookor Instagram or a few others.
And don't forget to share theepisode, because sharing is
caring, and if there was morecaring in the world, maybe
history wouldn't be a disaster.
(27:54):
Thanks and goodbye.
Last week our merry band of whalemen survived a
major setback as their ship wasnearly capsized in a storm.
Now they've made it around CapeHorn and have set out for the
Galapagos Islands for a bit ofturtle hunting and some fun in
the sun, before hitting theoffshore grounds, not knowing
(00:22):
that disaster lurks just aroundthe corner.
So what happened?
I'm Andrew and this isHistory's A Disaster.
Welcome back to part two of theEssex Tragedy.
(00:43):
Want to make one littlecorrection?
Part 2 of the Essex TragedyWant to make one little
correction.
This series is based largely onNathaniel Philbrick's book In
the Heart of the Sea, I believelast week I called it just Heart
of the Sea.
This book was based largely ona manuscript written by cabin
boy Thomas Nickerson, amanuscript that was written over
50 years after the accident andsubsequently lost until 1960,
(01:08):
where it would gounauthenticated until 1980,
before finally being firstpublished in 1984.
And with that let's get into it.
The Essex, on its way to theGalapagos Islands, made a stop
at a tiny village in Ecuadorcalled Atames.
While there, they picked upsome fresh fruits and vegetables
(01:31):
and even did a little hunting,which, with the lack of a
hunting dog, led them to usingyoung Thomas as one to flush out
some prey, which was cut shortwhen they got scared off by a
terrifying sound in the jungle,a sound Thomas would discover
years later came from a verytiny bird.
And to make things worse,during the stop Henry DeWitt,
(01:55):
one of the sailors, deserted theship and refused to go on.
Can't say I blame him.
Atamas was often described as aGarden of Eden by sailors, and
I would take that over.
Being cramped in a tiny-assship any day.
With the loss of the wit, theEssex would now be shorthanded
(02:15):
and would leave the ship withonly two people on board when
the whale boats went out, whichwould not be good if the ship
were to run into trouble.
After leaving Atamas, they madethe six-day voyage to the
Galapagos.
On the way they managed to gettwo more whales, which would
help to shorten their voyage.
With any luck they would nothave to stay out more than a
(02:39):
year and a half to fill the holdwith oil.
However, luck was not with themon this little trip.
The Essex sprung a leak.
They had to take shelter in asmall bay on Hood Island in the
Galapagos and work on repairs.
And while the ship was beingrepaired, the men went turtle
hunting.
In total, they would catch 180turtles to bring with them on
(03:02):
the voyage.
After the repairs were finallymade, they made their way to
Charles Island, where theycaught another 100 turtles, one
of which weighed over 600 poundsand required six men to carry
back.
During the hunt, one of the boatsteerers, thomas Chappell,
decided to play a little prank.
He set fire to some bushes andsince we're near the equator, in
(03:27):
an area that sees little to norain, and it was during a dry
season, the island was just atiny bit more flammable than
usual.
The fire roared around theisland, trapping the hunting
crew.
In the interior, they wereforced to have to run through
the flames to get to safety.
The interior, they were forcedto have to run through the
flames to get to safety.
(03:47):
While none of the crew wasinjured, captain Pollard was
pissed.
The island would burn for daysand remain a scorched wasteland
for many years.
The fire killed thousands ofbirds, lizards, turtles and
snakes.
It was a major ecologicaldisaster.
It was a major ecologicaldisaster.
By November 16th, the Essex hadsailed a thousand miles west of
(04:12):
the Galapagos.
They were deep in the largestocean on the planet, an area the
Nantucket Whalemen knew well.
They'd been traveling andwhaling here for over 30 years.
However, whale sightings werefew and far between.
Efforts to catch any proveduseless and during one encounter
, when Chase's boat was out andwaiting for a whale to surface,
(04:39):
they were once again hit by awhale, leaving the crew to cling
to the damaged whale boat.
While they waited for rescue,lacking extra boats, they worked
desperately to get it repaired.
It would be four days later, onthe 20th, another whale was
spotted early in the morning.
It was bright and sunny, theperfect weather for hunting.
(05:01):
The Essex got to within a halfmile of the sighting before
lowering the whale boats andturning to back away from the
area.
Once again, chase's crew led thechase for the whale and once
again they ran into trouble.
They got too close to the whaleand when it was hit with the
harpoon it flicked its tail andhit the tiny whale boat,
(05:22):
smashing its side and ripping ahole in it.
Tail and hit the tiny whaleboat, smashing its side and
ripping a hole in it.
One man would have toconstantly bail out water as
they rode back to the Essex,anxious to get on with the hunt.
Chase did a quick repair job onthe hole with some canvas so
they could get back into it.
Pollard and Joy had alreadyboth caught whales and were
(05:44):
starting the return trips.
While the repair was being made,the largest whale they had ever
seen was spotted just off theport side of the boat.
It was acting strangely, justfloating on the surface staring
at them.
It eventually dove down, thenresurfaced 35 yards from the
Essex.
Slowly it picked up speed, itsmammoth head cutting through the
(06:08):
water and leaving waves in itswake.
It was aimed directly at theport side of the ship.
They tried to turn, but feet inthe crash.
(06:30):
Surprise rippled through thecrew.
Never before had a whaleknowingly attacked the ship.
The whale dove down beneath theship, bumping it hard enough to
rip off the false keel, amassive 6 by 12 inch piece of
lumber.
The whale surfaced just feetfrom the starboard side of the
ship.
Stunned from the crash, it justfloated alongside, regaining
(06:54):
its composure.
The whale swam away 600 yards,the enraged beast snapping its
jaws and thrashing its tail inthe ocean before turning and
crossing in front of the Essex.
Again, it turns around hundredsof yards directly ahead of the
Essex and drives directly at theship.
Unable to get out of the way,the Essex takes the hit.
(07:15):
On the port side, the shipcracks and splinters with a
massive blow.
It's brought to a standstill bythe whale.
Not finished with the Essex,the whale beats its massive tail
and shoves the ship backwardsthrough the water.
Satisfied, the whale had putthe ship in its place, it backs
away and disappears, never to beseen again.
(07:44):
But now the Essex was fucked.
Water filled the lower decks.
It was going down bow.
First.
The forecastle was the first togo under, then the blubber room
and steerage.
While it sank, the ship'ssteward retrieved the captain's
and mate's sea chest, whichcontained much-needed navigation
(08:05):
equipment.
Chase and his crew rescued thespare whale boat.
As the ship listed dangerouslyto the side, they barely got
away before the Essex wascapsized completely.
The whole ordeal took less than10 minutes.
Not knowing what happened to theEssex, only that it had
disappeared from sight, the twowhaling crews dumped their
(08:26):
catches into the ocean and spedfor where they thought the Essex
should be.
They reached the site to findeight men crowded in the whale
boat they managed to save.
Pollard arrived first andstopped to watch the ship.
After hearing what became ofthe Essex, pollard began issuing
orders.
They needed to save as muchfood and fresh water as possible
(08:49):
.
To do this they needed to cutaway the mass so the partially
submerged ship could try toright itself.
They somewhat succeeded.
The ship righted itself to a 45degree angle.
However, most of the food andfresh water was unreachable in
the lower holds.
They managed to save over 600pounds of hardtack and more
(09:11):
fresh water than the whale boatscould safely hold.
Tools and other equipment weresalvaged, along with a musket
and two pistols and two poundsof ship nails.
Several turtles and two hogsswam to the boats for safety,
with no other plan and needingthe shelter of the ship from the
wind.
They spent the night tied tothe remains of the Essex.
(09:34):
It was a long and sleeplessnight for most of the crew, now
trapped on the whale boats andlistening to the sounds of the
Essex creaking crack in thenight.
What had been their home fornearly a year was slowly sinking
beneath the waves.
A guard was posted throughoutthe night to watch for debris
that could damage the boat orany other potential dangers.
(09:54):
The next morning they returnedto the waterlogged deck of the
Essex to search for anything ofuse that might have floated up
from below decks.
They found nothing, withnothing left for them to find
they prepared to leave the shipbehind.
They stripped what they couldto rig the whale boats with
(10:18):
masts and sails, each boat usingpieces to form two masts and
sails to go with it.
They also used boards to buildup the sides of the boats by
over half a foot.
This would be critical tokeeping water out of the little
boats.
They would also need to protectthe hardtack, the only real
food they had from the saltwater.
(10:38):
So it was wrapped in canvas andstored in the rear of the ship,
which also made it easier forthe officer in charge of the
boat to watch over it and rationit out.
When darkness fell, they wereforced to quit working on the
boats and tie up to the Essexfor another long, sleepless
night ahead.
By morning the Essex was slowlybreaking apart, the boards and
(11:01):
deck separated slowly.
In the waves, burst casks ofoil bled into the water
surrounding the boats with ayellow, stinky film.
Soon the boats were covered init, adding to the crew's torment
as they slipped on it as theymoved about the boat.
With preparations complete,they now had to make a plan.
(11:21):
A meeting was held between theofficers as they referred to
their charts and took whatnavigational readings they could
.
They poured over their copiesof Boundage's Navigator, which
had lists of friendly islandsalong with their latitude and
longitudinal locations.
Their options were severelylimited.
The listings were out of dateand their boats now equipped
(11:44):
with sails, they were once againat the mercy of the winds.
The closest island to the westwas the Marquesas, just a measly
1,200 miles away.
However, unconfirmed rumors ofcannibalism and ritualistic
homosexual activity which I'mnot exactly sure what that meant
(12:05):
, but, being Prudish Quakers,anything homosexual was anathema
Practice among the tribes theremeant it should be avoided at
all costs.
Other islands were discountedfor similar reasons.
As the discussion wore on, itwas eventually decided to try to
make for the South Americancoast.
(12:25):
They figured they could make itin roughly 56 days and with
only 60 days worth of food andwater they'd be cutting it close
if they ran into trouble.
The out-of-date charts and lackof knowledge severely screwed
them over.
One of the islands theydismissed, and was relatively
(12:49):
close, was Tahiti, which hadbeen a well-established English
settlement for nearly 30 years.
Pollard had originally wantedto head here, but Joy and Chase
talked him out of it and setforth a horrible chain of events
.
With the plan set, theyre-divided the crew, pollard's
(13:09):
and Joy's boat would take sevenmen.
Chase's damaged boat would takeonly six.
And of course, the clannishnessof the Nantucketers was still
going strong when they dividedup the men, with Pollard taking
the most native Nantucketers wasstill going strong when they
divided up the men, with Pollardtaking the most native
Nantucketers, and Joy, being thelowest rank, had mostly black
(13:30):
sailors on his boat.
While each boat was stilltechnically under Pollard's
command, they each retained alevel of autonomy, since there
was a risk they could beseparated at any time during the
voyage.
Since there was a risk theycould be separated at any time
during the voyage, each boat wasgiven 200 pounds of hardtack,
(13:52):
65 gallons of fresh water andtwo of the Galapagos turtles.
And to ensure that order wasstrictly maintained, each mate
was given a pistol, whilePollard kept the musket for
himself.
With that they set sail and letthe remains of the Essex to its
fate.
By late afternoon it was nolonger visible and the morale
amongst the crew improved, nolonger having to see their
(14:13):
former home destroyed andsinking.
From the beginning, they madeevery effort to remain together.
Staying together helpedmaintain morale and keep
everyone's spirits up.
Plus, with the lack ofnavigation equipment.
It was a necessity.
While Pollard and Chase hadcompasses and charts, joy had
(14:34):
none.
If they got separated he wouldbe lost at sea with no means of
navigating At night.
They kept as close as theycould and spent the night
talking.
They were 500 miles north and afive day sail from the offshore
grounds, and they figured theirbest hope for salvation was to
cut through the grounds and getpicked up by another whale ship.
(14:56):
They were hopeful, but it was atall order.
The offshore grounds were 300miles north to south and 2,000
miles east to west, so there wasa very slim chance of catching
one of the few ships in thisvast stretch of ocean.
While they hoped for this, theycouldn't spend time in the area
(15:17):
searching.
Given their lack of provisions,they had to stick with the plan
to head to South America.
They were hard pressed to makewhat they had.
Last two months they werelimited to six ounces of
hardtack and half a pint ofwater per day.
This would be the equivalent ofonly eating six slices of bread
a day and hardly any water.
(15:39):
And this while on the openwater under the blazing sun.
They had the turtles, but withonly two of them in each boat,
they wouldn't do much to bolstertheir diets.
They would be half-starved bythe time they made it to land
During their first night.
They quickly ate their food anddrink, but they had another
issue to deal with.
(15:59):
They had no tobacco.
So they not only had hardly anyfood, they were starting to go
through the jitters of nicotinewithdrawal.
So it would be another long,sleepless night for most of the
crew.
(16:20):
The winds were high, but theboat stayed close by throughout
the night.
The wind and constant assaultfrom the sea spray soon started
opening sores on the men'sexposed skin.
Daily rituals started todevelop.
Amongst them, chase kept adaily journal on what was
happening.
Others took to shaving.
Benjamin Lawrence took totwisting pieces of rope together
(16:42):
into an ever-increasing lengthof twine.
They stopped to take readingsto determine how far they
traveled and where they were.
They figured they were slightlyahead of schedule.
However, given the lack ofequipment and knowledge and just
not wanting to deal with it,pollard gave up trying to keep
up with their longitudinallocation and only figured their
(17:05):
latitude.
So they were basically sailingblind, with no way to determine
how far they were from SouthAmerica.
During a powerful gale, Chase'salready fucked up boat twisted
in the rough wind, it quicklytook on water and they had to
bail frantically to keep fromsinking.
During this, a large portion oftheir hardtack took on water.
(17:27):
They managed to save most of it, but a large portion was now
absolutely filled with salt.
Not good when you're alreadywater deprived.
Eventually, the boat was takingin more water than they could
bail and a leak was discoveredbelow the waterline.
They got the boat leaningenough to get the hole above
(17:48):
water and, working from Polard'sboat Chase, was able to hammer
the planks back together and fixthe leak.
In the days that followed, theymade good progress south.
However, they were travelingstraight south and no closer to
South America, and since theseboats weren't designed for this,
(18:11):
they had a tendency to pull tothe right, taking them away from
where they needed to go.
And the wind was no help.
It blowed them in the directionthey needed only to turn it
away and push them farther fromshore.
One night, while they sailed ina close formation, pollard
shouted out His boat had beenattacked by an orca.
(18:32):
They beat it off with poles,but not before it cracked the
stern of the ship.
It was now Pollard's turn tomake desperate repairs, but once
repaired, they were on theirway again.
Thirst was becoming a majorproblem on Chase's boat.
They had started eating thesalty hardtack, which only made
things worse.
(18:52):
They were starting to sufferfrom hypernatremia, a condition
where excessive sodium causedconvulsions in the body.
They figured what caused it,but they had no choice but to
keep eating the hardtack.
They had no other provisionsand they needed it to survive
the trip.
The wear and tear of being onthe rough ocean was starting to
(19:15):
show on the boats.
The plates were starting topull apart and they constantly
needed to be bailed out.
Soon the hunger overtook theirneed for water.
So they killed one of their twoturtles First, by splitting its
throat, and each man takingturns to drink its blood.
They collected it in their tincups to drink from, a few,
(19:37):
understandably, couldn't do it.
They couldn't get past thethought of drinking blood.
No one, however, turned downall that meat.
As they cooked the turtle inits shell, they greedily tore
into the first food they'd hadother than hardtack for days.
Their hunger led them to diginto the rich, fatty meat.
There was enough for each manto have three pounds of meat, a
(20:01):
pound of fat and half a cup ofblood.
A lot of food for men whoseshrunken bellies were starving,
and they devoured the wholeturtle.
None would be saved for later.
They had clear sailing for thenext several days.
Pollard had taken anavigational reading and
determined they were ahead ofschedule After eating their fill
of turtle.
The men in Chase's boat werefeeling good, had taken a
navigational reading anddetermined they were ahead of
(20:22):
schedule.
After eating their fill ofturtle, the men in Chase's boat
were feeling good.
The only thing they lacked waswater.
They were still severelydehydrated but they eventually
finished off the damagedhardtack and things would
improve slightly.
They were still dehydrated butthey were no longer taking in
extra salt and making thingsworse.
(20:48):
Over the next few days bothJoy's then Chase's boat would
take turns, becoming separatedfrom the rest.
Realizing a lot of time wasbeing lost trying to keep
everyone together, they decidedif they became separated they
would be on their own.
Plus, if something were tohappen to one boat there
(21:09):
wouldn't be much the otherscould do.
Everyone was already overloadedand adding to it would just
lead to disaster for everyone.
But the impulse to staytogether was strong and they did
everything they could not toseparate.
They fought through a terriblestorm overnight.
Forty-foot waves crashed aroundthem.
(21:30):
As the whale boats rode thecrest of the waves, high winds
battered them from side to side.
They had tried to collect freshwater from the rains and the
sails.
However, the sails were sobadly salted from the sea spray
that the water was worse thanthe seawater.
They managed to survive thestorm and stay together, but as
(21:52):
they sailed further south thewaves kept slapping over the
sides of the boats.
Failing them out was a constantchore.
After taking anothernavigational reading, pollard
determined they were still aheadof schedule.
They had traveled 1,100 miles,but with the wind they were
pushed even farther away fromtheir destination.
(22:13):
They were still close to 3,000miles away, starving and thirsty
At this point.
If they headed west, they wouldhave been in Tahiti within a
week.
They chose not to and pushed onto South America.
On December 9th, 17 days sinceleaving the Essex, pollard got
(22:34):
separated from the rest.
Chase and Joy ignored what theywere supposed to do and looked
and waited.
In the morning, pollard's sailwas spotted and the three boats
were reunited by the 18th day.
Their hunger and thirst gotworse.
There was a major temptation todig into the rations, which
would have doomed them all.
(22:55):
Chase took to sleeping with anarm or leg over his sea chest,
with the pistol next to him, incase anyone got any ideas about
raiding their food.
They would catch a lucky breakwhen flying fish jumped over and
landed in the boat.
These were eagerly devouredwhole scales and all but the
(23:16):
wind was giving them hell.
One day they'd make good timeand able to turn toward South
America.
One day they'd make good timeand able to turn towards South
America, and then nothing.
The winds would die down andthey'd be stuck, often for days.
Their timeline was getting shotto shit, realizing they would
never make the time theyallotted.
Chase cut rations in half.
The crew was now down to threeounces of hardtack a day.
(23:44):
The water situation was worse,but Chase was reluctant to cut
its rationing.
They were seriously sufferingfrom dehydration.
Seawater would have made itworse, but they tried anyways.
They tried drinking their ownpiss.
Nothing helped.
They were hitting thecottonmouth stage of thirst.
During this stage, salivathickens and the tongue sticks
(24:07):
the teeth in the roof of theirmouths.
A lump forms in their throats,speech becomes hard.
They're constantly wracked withpain.
Their skin shrinks and ispulled tight against their
skulls.
Hearing becomes difficult asthey start to hallucinate.
Eventually, the tonguecontinues to harden and swell.
Speech becomes impossibleexcept for moans of pain.
(24:30):
They're being mummified alive.
The eyelids start to crack asthey cry tears of blood.
Swelling in the throat makesbreathing difficult.
Adding to this was the sunconstantly beating down on them.
The heat was stifling.
A few of the men dipped over theside of the gunwale, which led
(24:50):
to the discovery of barnaclesattached to the underside of the
boat.
They eagerly plucked them fromthe boat and devoured them.
They were so hungry they wereunsuccessful in saving any for
later.
Just as a side note, here theywere now in an area that would
later be called the DesolateRegion.
Being so far from any type oflandmass, the only nutrients
(25:15):
available would be way down,deep at the bottom, leaving the
surface unable to support anysort of marine life or even
birds flying that far.
So being able to do stuff like,possibly, fish to supplement
their diets was out of thequestion, and they were stuck in
this region.
The wind had died completelyand they were stuck.
(25:38):
After fixing another leaf thatsprung up in Chase's boat,
pollard made a decision.
After being stuck there with nowind, pollard ordered double
rations for the men during theday, then that night they would
row for all they were worthuntil they hit the wind again.
The men became excited andlooked forward to having
(25:58):
something to do along with morefood and drink.
Looked forward to havingsomething to do along with more
food and drink.
Now this plan sounds good onpaper, but these men were not in
prime condition.
They were starved.
Their bodies had alreadyconsumed what body fat they had
and made even sitting painful.
After the fat was gone, musclewas burned up for energy.
(26:20):
They were down to barely morethan skin and bones.
They tried their best, but theact of rowing was near
impossible.
They made no progress at all.
With luck, the next day the windpicked up again.
They were moving, not in theright direction, but moving is
better than nothing.
Morale was taking a nosedive asthey traveled further south,
(26:43):
but then a ray of hope wasspotted, as someone shouted out.
They spotted an island.
And with the discovery of theisland, that is where we are
going to call it a day for thisweek.
So come back next week for thehappy conclusion to this tale,
where everybody lives happilyever after and no one is forced
(27:07):
to eat another person to survive, because that's what we do here
.
Tell happy disaster storieswhere no one ever dies
horrifically and everyonesurvives.
Anyways, thanks for listeningand if you liked the show,
please consider leaving a ratingor review on your app of choice
.
And you can reach the show athistoryisadisaster at gmailcom
(27:32):
with questions, comments orsuggestions, and follow the show
on social media like Facebookor Instagram or a few others.
And don't forget to share theepisode, because sharing is
caring, and if there was morecaring in the world, maybe
history wouldn't be a disaster.
(27:54):
Thanks and goodbye.
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