Nov. 20, 2025

The Whaleship Essex

The Whaleship Essex
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The Whaleship Essex

20 men struggle to survive after their whaleship is destroyed by a whale in the south Pacific.

This is the true story of the 1821 whaleship Essex, the doomed Nantucket vessel whose catastrophic encounter with a massive sperm whale helped inspire Moby-Dick. After the Essex was rammed by the massive whale, the Essex was destroyed, leaving its crew stranded thousands of miles from land.
During their harrowing struggle for survival in their open-boat journey. Some of the men would survive, but only by engaging in the "custom of the sea." The story of the whaleship Essex is one of the most haunting tales from maritime history, and was the inspiration behind Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick.

**No AI was used in the production of this podcast.
Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano.
All episodes can be found at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.


Original theme music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sean Sigfried⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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