This is a recreated account of the sinking of the Essex, a true story and an incredible saga of courage and endurance.
On November 20, 1820, the Essex, a Nantucket whaling ship of 105 feet, 238 tons, was rammed by a crazed sperm whale and sunk in the Pacific. Her crew of twenty barely had time to abandon ship in three small whaling boats. Thousands of miles from land, without charts, their chances were slim, yet they rowed and fought the seas. Little did they know that it would be months before any of them reached land, and that the others would starve to death, go mad, or commit suicide. Only a handful survived . . . after being reduced to eating human flesh.