Nathaniel Philbrick · 2000 · sea

Nathaniel Philbrick's 2000 account of the true disaster behind Moby-Dick. The Nantucket whaleship Essex sails around Cape Horn to the Pacific hunting grounds, only to be rammed and sunk by an enraged sperm whale. The survivors drift thousands of miles in open boats - to barren Henderson Island and beyond - enduring starvation and worse before a handful are rescued off Chile.

1. 1
   Nantucket

   The whaling capital of the world, from which the Essex sets out in 1819 for a voyage expected to last three years.

2. 2
   Cape Horn

   After weeks battling gales, the ship doubles the dreaded Cape into the Pacific.

3. 3
   Galapagos

   The crew stops to repair a leak and load giant tortoises before plunging west to distant, untried grounds.

4. 4
   Sinking Site

   In the remote Offshore Ground a huge bull sperm whale rams the Essex twice and sends her down, leaving twenty men in three whaleboats.

5. 5
   Henderson Island

   After a month at sea the starving men land on a barren island; three choose to stay rather than face the open ocean again.

6. 6
   Valparaiso

   The survivors, driven to cannibalism, are plucked from the sea off Chile and carried at last to Valparaiso.