Owen Chase
| Owen Chase | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
October 7, 1797 Nantucket, Massachusetts |
| Died | March 8, 1869 (aged 71) Nantucket, Massachusetts |
| Occupation | Whaling Captain |
| Genre | Non fiction |
Owen Chase (October 7, 1797 – March 7, 1869) was First Mate of the whaler Essex, which a sperm whale rammed and sank on 20 November 1820. Chase wrote about the incident in Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. This book, published in 1821, would inspire Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick. Chase was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, the son of Phebe (Meader) and Judah Chase.
As first mate of the Essex, 21-year-old Owen Chase left Nantucket on August 12, 1819 on a two-and-a-half-year whaling voyage. On the morning of November 20, 1820, a sperm whale (alleged to be around 85 feet (26 m), twice rammed Essex, sinking her 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) west of South America. The closest known islands, the Marquesas, were more than 1,200 miles (1,900 km) to the west and the captain of the Essex, George Pollard, intended to make for them but the crew, led by Chase, feared the islands might be inhabited by cannibals and voted to make for South America. Unable to sail against the trade winds, the boats had to sail south for 1,000 mi (1,600 km) before they could use the Westerlies to turn towards South America, which would still lie another 3,000 mi (4,800 km) to the east.
Of the 21 men in three whale boats who began the journey, eight survived: three who chose to remain on a barely habitable island and five in two boats who attempted to reach South America and who were forced to resort to cannibalism to remain alive.
Along with three other survivors of the Essex, Chase returned to Nantucket on the Eagle on June 11, 1821 to find he had a 14-month-old daughter he had never seen named Phoebe. An account of the homecoming was later published in a magazine. A large crowd had gathered at the docks to see the survivors arrive and as they disembarked, had parted without a sound. The survivors walked alone to their homes without a word being spoken.
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