Bibliographical citation: Philbrick, N. (2002). Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of the Whaleship Essex. New York, NY: Putnam. 164 pages. ISBN: 039923795X.
Awards: SLJ Best Books for Children (2002), Best Fiction for Young Adults (2003).
Author's website: http://nathanielphilbrick.com/
Annotation: Author Nathaniel Philbrick provides readers with this riveting story of the attack on the Whaleship Essex by a whale, including a historical look at the whaling industry, and the journey of the Essex using firsthand accounts, maps, sketches, and photographs.
Personal Reaction: Having previously read The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex by Owen Chase, First Mate, I was interested in this title since it gave an account of this same wreck from the perspective of the 14 year old cabin boy, Thomas Nickerson. This story of the Whaleship Essex is pretty well known because the classic title by Herman Melville, Moby Dick, was based upon this particular real life story. The story begins in 1819 on the island of Nantucket, a place dependent on the whaling industry. The profits from whaling is what keeps the families sheltered, fed, and clothed, and the oil that is rendered by burning down the fat of the whale was climbing in price and making the people of Nantucket very well off. Most whaling ships are expected to be gone 2-3 years at a time, giving the crew ample time to hunt enough whales to fill the belly of the ship with barrels of oil. Instead of the crew being paid a fee for their service, they were given a portion of whatever their final intake of oil is. If the voyage is successful, then all reap the benefits. If it isn't, then the amount is a pittance. Philbrick does an excellent job in conveying to the reader the amount of preparation and supplies that are necessary for such a long voyage, along with explaining specifically what all of the materials are for.
Since the whaleship needed a crew of 21 men, the Essex wound up with many men that were called "green hands" because of their lack of sailing experience. Captain Pollard was a first time captain, which meant that the other captains were given first choice of the available Nantucketeers. That left Pollard with only whatever men were left over. This barely gave Pollard half the amount of crew that was necessary in order to run a ship, leaving him with half a crew of green hands. One of those crew was the man who became his first mate, Owen Chase. Chase wanted to be in the position of captain, and this later becomes a problem since he regularly tries to push Pollard into certain decisions and is successful in doing so. These decisions prove fatal for many of the crew members. Captain Pollard is a trustworthy and fair captain, but doesn't have the full confidence that a captain should. When the crew positions are finally filled, the Essex sets off. The Essex is about twenty years old at the time of this voyage and this voyage would probably be its last, since its owners had a newer ship and the Essex was showing its age.
After not having much success in finding whales, Captain Pollard decides to set out for an area that is rumored to be rich with whales. It is here that tragedy strikes. While out in whaleboats attaching themselves to whales, the Essex is rammed by a whale approximately 85 feet long. First Mate Owen Chase is aboard the ship, but hesitates to harpoon the whale since it is so close to the boat and could possibly damage the ship's steering mechanism. He decides not to, thinking that any action on his part could cause the whale to further damage the ship. That was the first error, since moments later, after the whale seemed to regain his awareness he headed away from the ship then abruptly turned and headed back toward it. The crew of the Essex were still recovering from the first blow and couldn't respond in time to move the ship out of the whale's path. The whale struck again, this time dealing a fatal blow to the Essex. Once the ship is destroyed, the men have no choice but to venture out in the open ocean in the whaleboats, grabbing whatever provisions they can from the sinking ship. A limited amount of water, bread and tortoises is all that can be saved. There are islands that are relatively close and could be reached within a few days, but there are concerns that these islands may be inhabited by savages and /or cannibals, so instead they took their chances out in open sea.
Without enough rations to last for a long period of time, the men in charge of each of the three remaining whaleboats have to limit the amount of bread and water that each man gets daily. Within a short period of time, the men begin to dehydrate and weaken due to lack of food and nutrients. At one point they do find an island which is later revealed to be Henderson Island. They stay there for a week trying to regain their strength with the limited food and water that is available on the island. When they set off into the ocean again, three of the men stay behind, willing to take their chances on the island instead of in the unforgiving sea. Philbrick depicts the journey of the men in each of these boats as they suffer through the cruel symptoms of exposure, dehydration, starvation and eventually resort to cannibalism. This story of survival on the open water is shocking and at times, hopeless. Philbrick follows each man to his conclusion, whether it be death or rescue.
The description of the difficulties of sailing and navigation during this time and the process of hunting and killing the whale is described in great detail, along with the methods of butchering and burning down the various parts of the whale. The author also provides very detailed sketches of the various functions of the ship and the whaleboats, drawings of whale captures, photographs of some of the crew and items that survived the wreck, maps that show the various routes of the Essex, and historical documents that support this story.
Front/Back Matter: Preface, Crew of the Essex, Epilogue, Further Reading, Index.
*Bibliographical citation information, award information, as well as image retrieved from www.bwibooks.com (Titletales).
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