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Owen Chase (October 7, 1797 – March 7, 1869) was first mate of the whaler Essex, which sank in the Pacific Ocean on November 20, 1820, after being rammed by a sperm whale. Soon after his return to Nantucket, Chase wrote an account of the shipwreck and the attempts of the crew to reach land in small boats.
Owen Chase, the 23-year-old first mate, had stayed aboard the Essex to make repairs while Pollard went whaling. It was Chase who spotted a very big whale—85 feet in length, he...
Sep 12, 2023 · Owen Chase was the first mate of the whaleship Essex, which was attacked by a sperm whale in 1820. His account of the tragedy inspired Moby Dick, a classic novel by Herman Melville.
Nov 2, 2020 · Owen Chase was the first mate on the whaleship Essex, which was sunk by a vengeful sperm whale in 1820. His account of the attack and the crew's ordeal inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick.
Dec 28, 2015 · Captain Pollard and Charles Ramsdell were discovered gnawing on the bones of their shipmates in one boat. Owen Chase, Lawrence and Nickerson also survived to tell the tale.
- Angela Cockayne
However, First Mate Owen Chase—possibly worried that the men, believing the knockdown was a bad omen, might desert—convinced him to continue. Since departing Nantucket, the crew had been searching for sperm whales.
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Owen Chase was the first mate of the whaleship Essex, which was rammed and sunk by a sperm whale in 1820. His account of the disaster inspired Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick, and he became a symbol of the struggle between man and nature.
