Wreck of the "Moby ***' connection found.
A fierce bull sperm whale sank the whaling ship ESSEX under the command of George Pollard that inspired the classic American novel "Moby ***", by Herman Melville. Two years later, on February 11, 1823, a second whaler, THE TWO BROTHERS, under the command of 32 year old George Pollard, struck a Hawaiian coral reef during a night storm and sank in shallow water. After a harrowing night of anxiety, all survivors rowed to the MARTHA, a second Nantucker whaler that accompanied THE TWO BROTHERS for the Pacific whaling grounds.
Exactly 188 years later, on the exact day and month of the sinking, marine archaeologists found the remains of Pollard's second vessel at the Paphanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, 600 miles northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. Among the artifacts recovered, were several harpoons, a blubber hook, try pots where whale blobber was cooked into whale oil, and personal items. All artifacts will be conserved for a whaling museum in Hawaii.
The whaler ESSEX, under the command of George Pollard, departed Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, in 1819 for a voyage to the South Pacific whaling grounds. On November 20, 1820, the ESSEX was rammed twice by an 80 foot angry bull sperm whale some 2,000 miles west of the western coast of South America. In three whaling boats, 21 survivers made it to Henderson Island, a remote speck of uninhabited land, where the castaways spent a week eating any eatable food in sight. After food was exhausted, the survivors took to their whale boats leaving three of their companions behind to fend for themselves, and headed east for the coast of South America. One by one, some men died and were eaten including Owen Coffin, the young cousin of George Pollard, who was shot and consumed. In all, 7 people were cannibalized. Eventually, one of the whaleboat was sighted and rescued by the Nantucket whaler, DAUPHIN, 95 days after the ESSEX sank . The survivors were so delirious, they were not aware when the DAUPHIN came alongside the drifting whaleboat. The second whaleboat was sighted and rescued by the British merchant brig, INDIAN, 93 days after the ESSEX sank. The third whaleboat made landfall at Valparaiso, Chile, where authorities were informed about the three men stranded on Henderson Island. A rescue vessel saved the three, almost on the verge of death from starvation.
Desponded over the loss of two ships under his command, George Pollard never returned to sea, but remained on his native Nantucket Island employed in odd jobs. Herman Melville interviewed Pollard in 1852 doing research for his famous novel "Moby ***." Pollard served as a night watchman until his death in 1870.
Story by Rupert Cornwall of The Indepedent. Courtersy of Crackers Nautical News
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