2 h 58 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 58 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A whale sinks their ship. Twenty men face the Pacific in three small open boats, thousands of miles from land.
In Narrative of the Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex, first mate Owen Chase tells what he sees when a sperm whale rams his ship. The Essex sails from Nantucket, a center of whaling. Now the men must save what they can: water, bread, tools, and the instruments they need to navigate.
The attack gives way to a slower ordeal. Storms swamp the boats and soak the bread with salt water. Hunger and thirst wear down the men and their hope. Chase writes plainly, as a sailor and an officer who wants his conduct understood. His account brings a hard question close: who makes the choices, and why?
What you’ll discover
- The whale strikes Meet the danger that turns a whaling voyage into a desperate struggle to stay alive.
- Three boats, hard choices Follow men who must depend on salvaged supplies and navigation instruments far from land.
- Hunger on open water Feel the pressure of thirst, storms, and bread spoiled by the salt sea.
- A witness with stakes Read Chase as both a survivor reporting events and an officer explaining his decisions.
- Behind Moby-Dick Discover the account Herman Melville reads closely and draws on for his novel's last pages.
Who will love it
Readers drawn to true sea stories, survival accounts and whaling history will love this book. It offers a survivor's plain, direct testimony of ordinary people facing fear and hunger at sea.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Nantucket whalemen live by danger and ambition
- The Essex sails and meets early warnings
- A whale strikes the ship twice
- Ten minutes turn a ship into a wreck
- Three frail boats set out on a hard plan
- Thirst, hunger and calm test the crew
- Deaths and separation thin the boats
- Rescue arrives and the survivors account for their fates
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Récit du naufrage du baleinier Essex
by Owen Chase · 1821
A sperm whale rams a Nantucket ship twice, and twenty men set out in three open boats across the Pacific.
Medium level2–5 hours to readfrançais
Excellent
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In short
What would you do if a sperm whale about eighty-five feet long turned and charged your ship on a bright, calm morning? That is the question Owen Chase faces on November 20, 1820.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Nantucket whalemen live by danger and ambition
Chase begins on the island he calls home.
A voyage lasts about two and a half years, and its result is a gamble. Some ships come back fast with full holds. Others barely pay for their outfit. Chase calls the work hazardous, because it is a war against enormous animals. A Nantucket man, he says, is proud of that danger, the way a soldier is proud of his campaigns.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1821
- Language
- français
- Reading time
- 1 h 55 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Chase, Owen. Narrative of the Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/narrative-of-the-shipwreck-of-the-whale-ship-essex.
Chase, O. (2026). Narrative of the shipwreck of the whale-ship Essex. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/narrative-of-the-shipwreck-of-the-whale-ship-essex (Original work published 1821)
Chase, Owen. Narrative of the Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/narrative-of-the-shipwreck-of-the-whale-ship-essex.
@book{chase2026narrative,
author = {Chase, Owen},
title = {Narrative of the Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/narrative-of-the-shipwreck-of-the-whale-ship-essex},
note = {First published 1821}
}
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What is Narrative of the Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex about?
It is the first mate's own account of how a sperm whale rammed the whaleship Essex in the Pacific in 1820, and how twenty men tried to reach South America in three open boats.
Is the Essex shipwreck a true story?
Yes. Owen Chase was aboard as first mate and wrote the account after he got home. It covers real people, ships and places, and ends with a list of the crew and what happened to each man.
Who was Owen Chase?
He was a whaleman from Nantucket and the first mate of the Essex under Captain George Pollard, Jr. He survived in one of the three boats and published this account of the disaster.
The author
Owen Chase
1797–1869 · American sailor and memoirist
Owen Chase (1797–1869) was an American sailor from Nantucket, Massachusetts. He served as first mate on the whaling ship Essex, which sank after a whale struck it in 1820. His account, Narrative of the Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex, appeared in 1821. He died in Nantucket in 1869.
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