Stove by a Whale

The “exciting tale” of the first documented sinking of a ship by a whale—and the survivor’s narrative that inspired Moby-Dick ( Choice ). “On November 20, 1820, a great whale rammed the Nantucket whaler Essex , two thousand miles west of Ecuador. Owen Chase, her first mate, and twenty-nine other men took to the boats; eight eventually survived. Herman Melville’s debt to Chase’s Narrative has been known since Moby-Dick appeared, but little has been known about Chase and the survival of the crew .