The sinking of the Nantucket whaler ESSEX when rammed by a pissed off sperm whale and the subsequent small boat journey of its crew is one of the classic true sea stories, rivaling the Bounty Trilogy, by Nordhoff/Hall.
Wary of Hollywood's lack of sailing acumen after disgust with Robert Redford's disastrous "All is Lost," I have read, but not yet seen "Into the Heart of the Sea," Hollywood's story of the ESSEX. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has.
380 miles westnorthwest of Hanalei Bay, Kauai, lies French Frigate Shoals. FFS, a 20 mile long, crescent-shaped atoll, is a maze of coral reefs, rocky pinnacles, small low lying islands and white sand beaches, many submerged at high tide.
Though Polynesians likely visited FFS, it was accidentally first discovered during a dark night in November, 1786, by the French navigator and explorer Jean-Francois La Perouse, when his crew sighted breakers ahead and quickly tacked ship. La Perouse Pinnacle, 120 feet high, is the only remnant of FFS's volcanic origins, and from a distance, looks like a ship under sail.
Before accurate electronic navigation, FFS and it's reefs, were a magnet for later shipwrecks.
In 1821, Captain Pollard, late of the ESSEX epic, was given command of another whaler, TWO BROTHERS, out of Nantucket. As Pollard told his friends, "Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice."
But it did. In Feb. 1823, Capt. Pollard ran the TWO BROTHERS up on French Frigate Shoals, where she quickly came apart and sank. Pollard and crew were rescued by the nearby whaler MARTHA.
Just where was the TWO BROTHERS wrecked? The exact location remained a mystery for 187 years.
Then, by a bit of luck, in 2008, in shoal water, remnants of an old ship were found at FFS, including old style anchors and whale blubber try pots. Two other whaling ships had also been wrecked at FFS, but in later years.
Today, French Frigate Shoals is part of the Papahānaumokuākea Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Marine Monument and a World Heritage Site. Nothing may be visited, moved, or removed without highly scrutinized government permits.
After exhaustive research and documentation, in 2010 a combined team of NOAA scientists and researchers were able to ascertain with certainty that the newly located shipwreck at FFS was indeed Capt. Pollard's whaler TWO BROTHERS.
There is exciting and excellent film documentation of finding the TWO BROTHERS at French Frigate Shoals available online, including a 30 minute film. The story to date is available here: http://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov/mar...obrothers.html
Lightning did strike twice. Pollard, fictionalized in Melville's MOBY DICK, never got another command. The moral may be to keep a good lookout forward, and don't mess with whales.
Blessings and Merry Christmas to All!
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by sleddog
