Owen Chase's account of the Essex shipwreck
Read Owen Chase's first-person account of the Essex voyage, the 1820 whale attack and the open-boat aftermath, with links to the complete public-domain text.
Last updated September 2026
Contents6
Owen Chase wrote Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex, of Nantucket as a crew member. The book starts with whaling in Nantucket, then follows the Essex from her 1819 trip into events of 1820. The long title tells the shape of the book: a voyage, then a fight to live in open boats.
Image note: This book-and-candle photo is not the Essex or Chase's book. Tim Pierce took it in 2014. It is CC BY 2.0. This copy is cropped and resized.
The Essex sets out from Nantucket
Chase was first mate. He says the Essex left Nantucket on August 12, 1819. The first chapter tells about whaling, then the trip across the Atlantic and around Cape Horn. This gives the ship's path before the whale attack.
Chase narrates the attack and sinking
In Chapter II, Chase dates the whale strike to November 20, 1820. He saw a sperm whale hit one boat. Later, it charged the Essex. Chase says the ship took on water, so the crew left in smaller boats. He thought the whale struck back for revenge. That was his view, not proof of why the animal acted.
The aftermath is told from one boat's company
The book's subtitle says the captain and crew spent ninety-three days in open boats. Chase tells how they took bread, water, tools to find their way, and wood from the wreck. The rest is about hard choices with little food, water, or gear.
Read this as Chase's report, not as a modern history or a novel. Later books may add other voices. Keep those ideas apart from Chase's own words.
Where to read the Essex narrative
Project Gutenberg offers the English text as eBook 61931. Its record names Chase as author and says the book is public domain in the U.S. Readers in other places should check local law.
Compare a wreck, a working voyage and a novel
Chase's account centers on disaster and its aftermath. Dana's working-sailor narrative follows the duties and pressures of a longer voyage. The Melville reading guide offers a different comparison, with Omoo's wandering narrator and White-Jacket's naval hierarchy.
Verdict
Read Chase for one crewman's account of the whaling trip, the wreck, and life in the boats. His book shows his point of view. It is a good way to read a source behind later stories, as long as you keep those stories apart.