By Sharon Oliver
Contributing Writer
NANTUCKET – Herman Melville drew from his own experience as a sailor for his epic 1851 novel “Moby Dick,” but he didn’t stop there.
The novel presents the New Bedford-bound sailor Ishmael’s narrative of Ahab’s (captain of whaling ship Pequod) thirst for vengeance against Moby Dick, the great white sperm whale that bit off his leg. And it turns out the true story behind the novel is even more gruesome.
Visit to Nantucket
Melville visited Nantucket, the home port of his fictional protagonist, in 1852 to lay eyes on a village he had previously only imagined as he wrote “Moby Dick.” He met with 60-year-old George Pollard Jr., the former captain of the Essex, the ship that had been attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in 1820 and the real-life incident which inspired the novel. The classic tale touches briefly on the ordeal of a ship being sunk by a whale, as only a few hundred pages can encapsulate. However, Pollard shared the full story of his horror voyage with fellow captains and a missionary named George Bennet.
In 1820, then-29-year-old Pollard spent 92 days at sea in a leaking boat with no food, forcing the surviving yet angry crew into cannibalism after getting smashed head-on by an 85-feet whale. Pollard’s 23-year-old first mate Owen Chase, who was also from Nantucket, was the first to spot it while making repairs on the Essex. The whale passed underneath the ship then resurfaced again. This time, barreling towards the ship again at great speed, it smashed into the hull, causing extensive damage and water to rush in.
Pollard, who had been out whaling on a smaller boat, saw the Essex in distress from a distance. Soon, all of the whaling boats carrying crew members returned to the ruined ship. In all, there were three boats and 20 men. Pollard believed the closest land was the Marquesas Islands and the Society Islands, but Chase and the crew convinced him that the islands were inhabited by cannibals. So, with hopes of catching trade winds, they tried to head south even though the distance was farther.
Madness, death, and cannibalism
The men suffered through dehydration, a raging sun, saltwater-saturated bread and madness. By December 1820, the boats took on more water and were surrounded by more whales. On Chase’s boat, one man went mad. What came next was even more maddening. Low on rations, the crew separated the limbs from the man’s body, tossed his heart into the sea and roasted his remaining organs for food to eat.
As more sailors died, their bodies met with the same fate. One the most tragic moments that occurred was men drawing lots to sacrifice their bodies, which was a custom of the sea during the time. Sadly, Pollard’s teenage cousin, Owen Coffin, whose mother Pollard promised he would look after, drew the lot. Even though Pollard offered to step in for the young lad, Coffin insisted upon allowing himself to be shot in the head so that his body could sustain the starving survivors.
Rescue and later life
One boat disappeared and Chase’s and Pollard’s boats lost sight of each other. Only eight men out of 20 survived and returned to Nantucket where they mostly received a welcome. However, Nancy Coffin was too distraught over her son’s death and the manner in which he died. She could not abide being in Pollard’s presence.
Pollard captained a second ship, Two Brothers, but after it shipwrecked two years later, no owner trusted him as a captain again. He lived out his remaining years as a night watchman.
At one point, Herman Melville lived in Pittsfield as well as the once bustling whaling town of New Bedford where tourists still visit for its many attractions. The New Bedford home previously owned by Melville’s sister Catherine Melville Hoadley sold in 2024.
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