Divers find shipwreck of doomed sailor who inspired classic tale of Moby Dick off coast of Hawaii

UK Daily Mail / various ^ | February 11, 2011

[Stoat]

• Wreck of the The Two Brothers found 600 miles northwest of Honolulu
  

Divers have found the shipwrecked vessel of a doomed sailor who inspired the classic American tale Moby Dick off the coast of Hawaii.

When, in 1820, a fierce sperm whale sank George Pollard's first whaling ship — Essex — it captured the imagination of author Herman Melville, who published the book in 1851.

And, just three years after his first ship sank, a second whaler captained by Pollard, 30, struck a coral reef during a night storm and sank in shallow water.

Marine archaeologists scouring remote atolls 600 miles northwest of Honolulu have found the wreck site of Pollard's second vessel, the Two Brothers.

Most of the wooden whaling ship, from Nantucket — just off Cape Cod, Massachusetts — disintegrated in Hawaii's warm waters in the nearly two centuries since.

But researchers found several harpoons, a hook used to strip whales of their blubber, and try pots or large cauldrons whalers used to turn whale blubber into oil.

Corals have grown around and on top of many of the objects, swallowing them into the reef.

'To find the physical remains of something that seems to have been lost to time is pretty amazing,' said Nathaniel Philbrick, an author and historian who spent more than three years researching the Essex — and its fatal encounter with the whale — the Two Brothers and their captain.

'It just makes you realise these stories are more than stories. They're about real lives.'

Officials from the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument — one of the world's largest marine reserves — were due to announce their findings at a news conference today, exactly 188 years after the Two Brothers sank.

[Stoat]

More:

 

Found: A diver is seen with a cooking pot from the 19th century whaling ship the Two Brothers, which was captained by George Pollard, whose story Moby Dick was based on

Author: Herman Melville was inspired by the story of sailor George Pollard

 

 

Sunk: The Essex was Pollard's first ship to sink, when it was attacked by a sperm whale - it influenced Moby Dick

Greg McFall/NOAA

A team of marine archaeologists found the whaler Two Brothers in 2008 while on a trip looking for other wrecks in the Pacific.

 

 

Nantucket Whaler Lost in Pacific Tells Its Tale at Last - NYTimes.com

 

 

In Pacific discovery, traces of Nantucket and ‘Moby-Dick’ - The Boston Globe

(A Video report is available at the link above)

A blubber hook, a tool used in the messy process of carving up a whale. Credit: NOAA/Greg McFall.

Shipwreck of Captain Who Inspired 'Moby-Dick' Discovered ǀ Whaling Ships & Shipwrecks ǀ Expeditions, Marine Archeology Our Amazing Planet

[Stoat]

[BuffaloJack]

Essex = Pequod

[oh8eleven]

Divers have found the shipwrecked vessel of a doomed sailor who inspired the classic American tale Moby Dick off the coast of Hawaii.
That entire sentence is just sooo wrong.

[GOP Poet]

cool!

[Mr. Lucky]

So, you were able to pass junior high school literature class, then?

[gov_bean_ counter]

He probably needed a bigger boat.

[ClearCase_guy]

“Call me Water-logged.”

[Stoat]

So, you were able to pass junior high school literature class, then?

Not sure what you're driving at.  Please be so kind as to explain your meaning more fully.

So, you were able to pass junior high school literature class, then?

[BenLurkin]

Sounds like he’s referring to folks like Old Ben who — sometimes — let the Classics Illustrated take the place of actually reading the book.

Moby Dick, I did read. It’s a great story.

[painter]

I am a diver and it would have been a blast to be on that dive.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Essex = Pequod

Except Melville left out all the cannibalism stuff in the lifeboats.

[JRios1968]

Officials from the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument...

Say it 3 times fast!

[stormer]

For those interested, this is a GREAT book...

[Stoat]

Sounds like he’s referring to folks like Old Ben who — sometimes — let the Classics Illustrated take the place of actually reading the book.

Moby Dick, I did read. It’s a great story.

If that's true then it's truly unfortunate that another obvious reason for my choice of the Classics Illustrated cover wasn't considered; that being the intent of graphically illustrating how a timeless classic such as Moby Dick has been made accessible to all ages.

Strange, also, that a comic book is being associated with Junior High school, as my own interest in comics waned many years prior.  But, that's just me.

Sounds like he’s referring to folks like Old Ben who — sometimes — let the Classics Illustrated take the place of actually reading the book.

Moby Dick, I did read. It’s a great story.

[bunkerhill7]

This is derived indigenously,

from whence the Hawaiian term `Hookie Lau` originated

as being loosely interpreted from the nautical terms `Blubber Hook` and `Nookie Now` ,

the two latter terms being transmogrified into

the former now infamous tourist-bait song of 1948.

[OldDeckHand]

"That entire sentence is just sooo wrong. "

LOL - This person makes his/her living as a writer. That is to say, they write for a living, presumably as does his/her editor(s). And yet, this is the best they can come up with before publication. It's remarkable.

[Mr. Lucky]

Please refer to Mr. Lurkin's post #10. Perhaps some of us just ran with a slower crowd. Although, I didn't stumble upon the value of Classics Illustrated until my college years.

[bunkerhill7]

Hey! Toay is 2-11-2011— HELPPP!!!

[bunkerhill7]

Hey! Today is 2-11-2011— HELPPP!!!