Anthology  Source  Whalesite

      It is stated that such a circumatance as the attack of a whale upon a ship, has never been known to occur but once in the whole history of whale fishing, and that was the destruction of the ship Essex, some twenty or twenty-five years ago.

      The ship Ann Alexander, Capt. John S. Deblois, aailed from New Bedford, Mass., June lst, 1850, for a cruise in the South Pacific for sperm whale. Having taken about 500 barrels of oil in the Atlantic, the ship proceeded on her voyage to the Pacific. Nothing of unusual interest occurred until, when passing Cape Horn, one of the men, named Jackson Walker, of Newport, N. H., aged about 24, was lost overboard in a storm. Reaching the Pacific, she came up the coast, and stopped at Valdivia, coast of Chili, for fresh provisions, and on the 31st of May last ahe called at Paita for the purpose of shipping a man. The vessel proceeded on her voyage to the South Pacific.

      On the 20th of August last she reached what is well known as the "Off-Shore Ground," in lat. 5° 50' South, long. 102° West. In the morning of that day, at about nine o'clock, whales were discovered in the neighborhood, and, about noon the same day, they succeeded in making fast to one. Two boats had gone after the whales – the larboard and the starboard; the former commanded by the first mate, and the latter by Capt. Deblois. The whale which they had struck was harpooned by the larboard boat. After running some time, the whale turned upon the boat, and, rushing at it with tremendous violence, lifted open its enormous jaws, and, taking the boat in, actually crushed it into fragments as amall as a common-sized chair! Capt. Deblois immediately struck for the scene of the disaster with the starboard boat, and succeeded against all expectation in reacuing the whole of the crew of the demolished boat – nine in number! How they escaped from instant death, when the whale rushed upon them with such violence and seized their boat in its ponderous jaws, is a mystery known only to "Him who holds the waves as in the hollow of his hands."

      There were now eighteen men in the starboard boat; consisting of the captain, the first mate, and the crews of both boats. The frightful disaster had been witneased from the ship and the waistboat was called into readiness and sent to their relief. The distance from the ship was about six miles. As soon as the waiat-boat arrived, the crews were divided, and it was determined to pursue the same whale, and make another atack upon him. Accordingly they separated, and proceeded at some distance from each other, as is usual on such occasions, after the whale. In a short time they came up to him and prepared to give him battle. The waist-boat, commanded by the first mate, was in advance. As soon as the whale perceived the demonstration being made upon him, he turned his course suddenly, and, making a tremendous dash at this boat, seized it with his wide-spread jaws, and crushed it into atoms, allowing the men barely time to escape his vengeance by throwing themselves into the ocean.

      Capt. Deblois, again seeing the perilous condition of his men, at the risk of meeting the same fate, directed his boat to hasten to their rescue, and, in a short time, succeeded in saving them all from a death, little less horrible than that from which they had twice so miraculously escaped. He then ordered the boat to put for the ship as speedily as possible, and, no sooner had the order been given than they discovered the monster of the deep making towards them, with his jaws widely extended! Escape from death now seemed totally out of the question. They were six or seven miles from the ship – no aid even there to afford them necessary relief, and the whale, maddened by the wounds of the harpoon and lances which had been thrown into him, and seemingly gloating with the prospect of speedy revenge, within a few cables' length! Fortunately, the monster came up and passed them at a short distance. The boat then made her way to the sbip, and they all got on board in safety.

      After reaching the ship a boat was despatched for the oars of the demolished boats; and it was determined to pursue the whale with the ship. As soon as the boat returned with the oars, sail was set, and the ship proceeded after the whale. In a ahort time she overtook him, and a lance was thrown into his head. The ship passed on by him, and immediately after, they discovered that the whale was making for the ship! As he came up near her, they hauled on the wind, and suffered the monster to pass her. After he had fairly passed, they kept off to overtake and atack him again. When the ship had reached within about fifty rods of him, they discovered that the whale had settled down deep below the surface of the water, and, as it was near sundown, they concluded to give up the pursuit.

      Captain Deblois was at this time standing in the night-heads on the larboard bow, with craft in hand, ready to strike the monster a deadly blow should he appear, the ship moving about five knots, when working on the side of the ship, he discovered the whale rushing towards her at the rate of fifteen knots! In an instant the monster struck the ship with tremendous violence, shaking her from stem to stern. She quivered under the violence of the shock, as if she had struck upon a rock! Capt. Deblois immediately descended into the forecastle, and there, to his horror, discovered that the monster had struck the ship about two feet from the keel, abreast the foremast, knocking a great hole entirely through her bottom, through which the water roared and rushed in impetuously! Springing to the deck, he ordered the mate to cut away the anchors and get the cables overboard to keep the ship from sinking, as ahe had a large quantity of pig iron on board. In doing this, the mate succeeded in relieving only one anchor and cable clear, the other having been fastened around the foremast. The ship was then sinking very rapidly. The captain went into the cabin, where he found three feet of water. He, however, succeeded in procuring a chronometer, sextant, and chart. Reaching the decks he ordered the boats to be cleared away, and to get water and provisions, as the ehip was healing over. He again descended to the cabin, but the water was rushing in so rapidly that he could procure nothing. He then came upon deck, ordered all hands into the boats, and was the last himself to leave the ship, which he did by throwing himself into the sea and swimming to the nearest boat! The ship was on her beam end, her topgallant yards under water. They then pushed off some distance from the ship, expecting her to sink in a very short time. Upon an examination of the stores they had been able to save, he discovered that they had only twelve quarts of water and not a mouthful of pro-

visions of any kind! The boats contained eleven men each; they were leaky, and, night coming on, they were obliged to bail them all night, to keep Umm from sinking!

      Next day, at daylight, they returned to the ship, no one daring to venture on board but the captain, their intention being to cut away the masts – and fearful that the moment the masts were cut away the ship would go down. With a single hatchet, the captain went on board, cut away the masts, when the ship righted. The boats then came up, and the men, by the sole aid of spades, cut away the chain cable from around the foremast, which got the ship nearly on her keel. The men then tied ropes round their bodies, got into the sea and cut holes through the decks to get out provisions. They could procure nothing but about five gallons of vinegar and twenty pounds of wet bread. The ship threatened to sink, and they deemed it imprudent to remain by her any longer, so they set sail on their boats and left her.

      They were then in a dreadful state of anxiety, knowing that in a very few days, unlesa a kind Providence should direct them to fall in with some ship, they must all die by starvation and thirst, or that, to sustain life, they would be obliged to eat each other's bodies as soon as life had departed! However, as long as they had strength, they knew it was their duty to wait and watch patiently, and trust to that Good Being who had twice so signally saved them from the jaws of the monster of the deep the day previous. Their only hope was in trying to reach a rainy latitude, that, from the rains that might fall, they could sustain life.

      With this hope they directed their course northwardly, and on the 22nd of August, at about five o'clock, P. M. they had the indescribable joy of discerning a ship in the distance. They made a signal, and were soon answered, and, in a short lime, they were reached by the good ship Nantucket, of Nantucket, Mass. Captain Gibbs, who took them all on board, clothed and fed them, and extended to them, in every way, the greatest possible hospitality.

      On the succeeding day, Captain Gibbs went to the wreck of the ill-fated Ann Alexander, for the purpose of trying to procure something from her, but, as the sea was rough, and the attempt considered dangerous, he abandoned the project. The Nantucket then set sail for Paita, where she arrived on the 15th of September, and where she landed Capt. Deblois and his men. Capt. Deblois was kindly and hospitably received and entertained at Paita by Captain Bathurst, an English gentleman residing there, and subsequently took passage on board the schooner Providence, Captain Starbuck, for this port, (Panama,) arriving here on Sunday last, Oct. 12.

"A Ship Sunk by a Whale."
      Littell's Living Age
Vol. 31, No. 393 (Nov. 29, 1851).
    pp. 415-416.

Anthology  Source  Whalesite