Beneath the Heart of the Sea: The Sinking of the Whaleship Essex

by Owen Chase

Discover the amazing true story behind the inspiration for Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and the feature film Heart of the Sea A tragic yet riveting narration of life and death and man against the elements, this is an extreme account of shipwreck survival. On the morning of November 20, 1820, in the Pacific Ocean 2,000 miles from the coast of South America, an enraged sperm whale rammed the Nantucket whaleship Essex . As the boat began to sink, her crew of 20, including first mate Owen Chase, grabbed what little they could before piling into frail boats and taking to the open seas. So began their four-month ordeal and struggle for survival. This is a bleak story, only eight men survived having endured starvation and dehydration, giving in to cannibalism, murder, and insanity. Owen Chase recorded the extraordinary account in his autobiography, originally published in 1821.

Genres: History, Memoir

112 pages, Paperback

First published February 6, 2015

Reviews

[Yonina · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It was unmanly to be repining”: masculinity as survival strategy. 🤪
In all seriousness this was great and the pages about the whale itself in its malignant fury— its face, its aspect, its singular wish to destroy them— are superior to Melville’s own depiction of good old M-D. Instead Melville reflects interminably on the unknowability of whale consciousness and so on. But Chase manages to see the whale for what it is— a conscious and enraged and grieving agent whose pod has just been slaughtered by the whalers. The fact that he went back to whaling later, after this whole impossibly horrible experience, is…something.

[Reet Champion · Rating 4 out of 5]

The whaler Essex was on a routine trip. That routine turned into the extraordinary test of endurance when a whale sunk the ship leaving survivors in the middle of nowhere in little boats. What followed next was a horrific tale of torture, murder and cannibalism at the hands of nature and man.

By now most people are familiar with the story of the whaleship Essex thanks to Nathaniel Philbrick's gritty bestseller from many moons ago. It's a sad, depressing and slightly depraved story. With the new movie coming out about the story interest has no doubt been reignited.  Beneath the Heart of the Sea acquaints newcomers with the story of the Essex via the words of First Mate Owen Chase one of the few survivors of the disaster. With its republication readers will get a firsthand account of a timeless story that still boggles the mind. Highly recommended.

DISCLAIMER: In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” we would like to note that we received an electronic copy of “Beneath the Heart of the Sea”  provided by the publishers, Hesperus Press, through Netgalley.com in exchange for our honest review.

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[Randee Baty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the same book that was originally published in 1821 as Narratives of the Wreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. It's fantastic. I'm immediately recommended it to my husband as a quick and engrossing non-fiction book. Herman Melville based a good deal of Moby-Dick on this narrative. I read it because I'm doing a historical presentation on Moby-Dick. I'll probably read it again just for the fun of it.

This is the first-person account of the disaster of the Essex by the first mate. The Essex was sunk by a whale and all hands had to escape in the whale boats 1000 miles from land. Chase's narrative is straight forward but wow, he has you in the boat with him. The hardships they endured are astounding but so is the ingenuity and will to live that the sailors displayed. They dealt with hunger, thirst, heat, sharks and eventually had to make very tough decisions to stay alive. Eight of the initial crew of 20 made it home. If you love a good adventure story or a good survival story or just a good story, this is it. For having been written in 1821, the language is very accessible. Highly recommended.

I was fortunately able to get this book from Netgalley in exchange for review.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Humm, this book was a little bit of a disappointment. Although the survival story was impressive, the book was a little boring - probably because it was more of an account of what happened. The incident with the whale was only a couple of pages. My nautical terms are a bit lacking so I'm unsure exactly what happened to the boat except it was damaged and they had to abandon it. While they were trying to survive at sea I was reminded of the book and movie Unbroken. Maybe the movie would be more interesting?

[Zoe Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phew, what a ride. This is the true story which inspired Moby Dick. It seems so unreal that I had to keep reminding myself that it was real.

It definitely kept my interest the whole way through, but because it was written in 1821, some of the language makes it hard to read, and the structuring of the sentences and paragraphs were also a bit off-putting. But the story was just so fascinating of how they survived for almost 3 months at sea - I kept thinking about what I would do if it were me, and I guess it was lucky they were well versed in navigating the sea without technology.

If you want a quick version of what happened (including the death and cannibalism that they faced), watch Ask A Mortician on YouTube - the true story of Moby Dick

[Steffi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Nathaniel Philbrick's "In the Heart of the Sea" first. His is also an non-fiction account of the Essex disaster but he draws on several eye witness accounts to give a more complete picture of the event. I see Owen Chase's book as a good introduction to the Essex story. It was published shortly after Chase returned to Nantucket and served as inspiration for Herman Melville's "Moby Dick".

[jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was less of a dramatic retelling and much more of a matter of fact ‘here’s what happened step by step’, but the basic truth about what the the men on the ship went through is so shocking that the book is very gripping. Definitely was worth the read and was interesting to see how this book was the inspiration for moby dick :)

[Hulkenmamman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it! If you liked this book, read Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, or watch the movie Alive from 1993.

[Raelynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminds me of reading assigned to me in history class that I end up enjoying more than expected

[Karen Beg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting , quick read. This tale is told by the 2nd in command. It is definitely an amazing tale of survival.

[Leila Nicotera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow.

[Ann Bornholdt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible true story that is the basis for Moby Dick.