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Essex was an American whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts, which was launched in 1799. On November 20, 1820, while at sea in the southern Pacific Ocean under the command of Captain George Pollard Jr., the ship was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale.
Article History. Essex. Model of the Essex whaling ship. Essex, American whaling ship that was rammed by a sperm whale on November 20, 1820, and later sank. Although all 20 crewmen initially survived, only 8 were rescued following an arduous journey that devolved into cannibalism.
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On November 20, 1820, the American whaling ship Essex was rammed by a sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) and sunk. The incident inspired Herman Melville’s famous novel Moby Dick . The Essex had left her home port on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States, more than a year earlier.
Cyprien Gaulon (b. 1777), Sinking of the Nantucket Whaleship Essex by a Whale on 20 November 1820. Colored lithograph, (12 3/8” x 16 7/8”). Bordeaux, France, 1821/22. “On 13 November 1820, the American ship Le Sussex, captain G. Pollard, was attacked by a monstrous whale hitting it at the bow, at the equator, 20°West longitude.
HISTORY. The True-Life Horror That Inspired ‘Moby-Dick’. The whaler Essex was indeed sunk by a whale—and that’s only the beginning. Gilbert King. March 1, 2013. An illustration of Moby Dick...
The Whaleship Essex - Stove by a Whale. Essex model, by Mark Sutherland, 2011.29.1. No one knows exactly what the Essex looked like. This model is based on close study of period ship portraits and details preserved in the ship’s government registration documents.
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex is a book by American writer Nathaniel Philbrick about the loss of the whaler Essex in the Pacific Ocean in 1820. The book was published by Viking Press on May 8, 2000, and won the 2000 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
