Whaling shipwreck linked to "Moby-Dick" discovered

[boxcorner]

Whaling shipwreck linked to "Moby-Dick" discovered
(Reuters - 11 February 2011)

"Marine archeologists off Hawaii have found the sunken remains of a 19th-century whaling vessel skippered by a captain whose ordeal from an earlier shipwreck inspired the Herman Melville classic Moby-Dick."

'Moby Dick' captain's ship found
(BBC News US & Canada - 12 February 2011)

"US marine archaeologists have found the sunken whaling ship belonging to the captain who inspired Herman Melville's classic 19th Century novel, Moby Dick."

The Two Brothers Whaling Ship That Sank Exactly 188 Years Ago Today Discovered Off Hawaii Coast
(AllVoices - 11 February 2011)

"The 1823 Nantucket whaling ship given the name The Two Brothers that was commanded by George Pollard whose first ship The Essex was also lost under his command was discovered 600 miles northwest of Honolulu by the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument who were scheduled to make this announcement at a news conference later today exactly 188 years after it sank. The sinking of The Essex which was rammed by a sperm whale inspired and served as the basis for Herman Melville's Moby Dick."

The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex
(BBC )

"The whaling ship Essex left Nantucket, Massachusetts in 1819 on a two-and-a-half-year voyage in the whaling grounds of the South Pacific to hunt the lucrative but aggressive sperm whale. In June 1821, 13 of the 21 crew were dead, and the eight survivors have entered maritime history as part of one of the most remarkable sea-faring stories ever told."

"Most of the survivors at some time or another wrote accounts of the disaster, some of which differ markedly on details of the character of the main players in the story. The best known is Chase's Narrative of the Most Extra-Ordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whaleship Essex, which was published in 1821. While whaling in the South Pacific, Owen's son William met a young whaler, and spoke with him at some length about the Essex, and gave a copy of his father's manuscript to the young man. That young man was Herman Melville, and it was Chase's narrative that inspired Melville's greatest work, Moby Dick."

Project Gutenberg: Moby-Dick, or, The Whale by Herman Melville
Project Gutenberg: Moby-Dick, or, The White Whale by Herman Melville
Project Gutenberg: Herman Melville

Wikipedia: Moby-Dick
Wikipedia: Herman Melville
Wikipedia: Whaling
Wikipedia: Nantucket
Wikipedia: Two Brothers (ship)
Wikipedia: Whale-Ship Essex

[tubemonkey]

That's cool. I wonder if anyone will ever find the Nautilus. I love Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

That's cool. I wonder if anyone will ever find the Nautilus. I love Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

That really would be news.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by boxcorner

That really would be news.

Thanks for the links. I love history.

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Thanks for the links. I love history.

You're welcome. You might find this interesting: BBC History

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by boxcorner

You're welcome. You might find this interesting: BBC History

Thanks; but that's already one of my history links and one of my favorites. Here's one from Fordham University you might not be aware of that I find quite informative:

Internet History Sourcebooks Project

[dreams]

Thank you, boxcorner. I'm another that loves history.

P.S... We also have some copies in the MR library... (I didn't see an ePub version)

E-Book Uploads - Patricia Clark Memorial Library

Melville, Herman: Moby Dick. v1. 20Jan2011 Mobi/PRC format uploaded by MR member Strether

Melville, Herman: Moby Dick. 08 Sept 07 Mobi/PRC and IMP formats uploaded by MR member RWood

Melville, Herman: Moby Dick; Or The Whale. v1. 08 July 07 LRF format uploaded by Dr. Drib

[boxcorner]

tubemonkey & dreams: Thank you for the links. I've updated my original post.

[jgray]

Since Chase's Narrative was published in 1821, you'd think you could find a free copy online. After much Googling, I finally found this:

http://www.riapress.com/Narrative-of...38CBgiq1DC881D

Joe

[boxcorner]

jgray, thank you for the link!

I didn't know about Ria Press - Classic Books.

Reading the BBC article The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex certainly piqued my interest, so I now look forward to reading Chase's Narrative.

I read Typee when I was a teenager, and clearly remember being entranced by it.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by jgray

Since Chase's Narrative was published in 1821, you'd think you could find a free copy online. After much Googling, I finally found this:

http://www.riapress.com/Narrative-of...38CBgiq1DC881D

Joe

Good find, but the PDF isn't well formatted for ebook reading and the TXT is filled with bad characters. Here's my take on correcting the problems.

[boxcorner]

Thank you ardeegee.

[ctol]

And for people interested in American shipwrecks I suggest this site.

http://www.shipwreckworld.com/

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by ctol

And for people interested in American shipwrecks I suggest this site.

http://www.shipwreckworld.com/

ctol, thanks for the interesting link.

For those who are interested in things nautical, the UK has its world renowned National Maritime Museum, situated in Greenwich.

The National Maritime Museum Cornwall has published A Whale of a Story, about the Essex.

Here's a list of Maritime and Naval Museums in Britain and Ireland.

Wikipedia: History of whaling

BBC News - Science & Environment - Guide to oceans' great whales

[Anthem]

Very interesting.