In august of 1819, the whaleship essex and its crew of 21 set sail from nantucket on their way to whaling grounds in the south pacific It was a routine whaling voyage The men expected to spend two to three years hunting whales and filling the ship's hold with sperm oil, then return to nantucket to receive their share of the profits Photos and information gathered while researching episode 70 of the podcast Learn all about the essex, its crew of 20 and their journey. The real story of the essex whaleship perhaps as vengeance for the whale hunt, or as nature’s way of punishing the crew for a fire they set on floreana island that is theorized to have caused the extinction of floreana tortoises, the boat became the target for a whale that made moby dick seem tame.
About the author owen chase was first mate of the whale ship essex, which was struck and sunk by a sperm whale on november 20, 1820
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