So, I stumbled onto this thing, the whaleship Essex. Wasn’t looking for it, just messing around online like I do, and boom, there it was. Sounded kinda old-timey, you know?
I figured, what the heck, let’s see what this is all about. Started clicking around, reading bits and pieces. And man, the story just grabbed me. This wasn’t some made-up tale; this actually happened. A giant whale smashing a ship to bits. Wild.
I got pretty obsessed for a couple of days, not gonna lie. My whole weekend basically went down the Essex drain. I was trying to figure out the timeline, who was on board, all that stuff. The ship sank way out in the Pacific, like, middle of nowhere, back in 1820. Can you even imagine?
But the real kicker, the part that got under my skin, was the survivors. What those poor guys went through… it’s nuts. They were adrift in these little whaleboats for months. Months!
Food gone. Water gone. They were literally starving, dying of thirst. I read some of the first-hand accounts, or summaries of them anyway. And let me tell you, it’s grim. Seriously grim. Some of the choices they had to make… I’m not even gonna get deep into it, but yeah. Dark.
Finding Out Who Made It
I actually tried to make a list, you know? Like, who were the ones who actually got rescued. It was a struggle to find clear info at first, but I pieced some of it together from different sources. Out of twenty guys, only a few. I think it was eight in total, from different boats, rescued at different times. Some had been out there for over 90 days.
- Captain Pollard, he survived. Rough time for him, though.
- Owen Chase, the first mate, he wrote a book about it. That’s where a lot of the info comes from.
- A few young lads, cabin boys and such.
Reading about each one, what happened to them on those boats… it’s just awful. One boat just vanished, never seen again. The guys on another boat drew lots. You know what that means.
So, what’s the takeaway from all this digging? For me, it was just… wow. Humans can be incredibly tough, but also incredibly fragile. It’s one of those stories that makes you stare at the wall for a bit after you’re done. It ain’t pretty, that’s for sure. But it’s real history, and the fact that anyone survived at all is kind of a miracle, in a messed-up way. Definitely makes you count your blessings, like having a sandwich in the fridge and a roof over your head. It’s not a story I’ll forget anytime soon, that’s for sure.
