On november 20, 1820, while at sea in the southern pacific ocean under the command of captain george pollard jr., the ship was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale Essex was an american whaling ship that was rammed by a sperm whale on november 20, 1820, and later sank, sending its crew on an arduous journey to safety. For the crew of the essex, it was a day flecked with hope In spite of the artistic license and its resulting flaws, the colorful broadsheet is the earliest pictorial representation of the famous disaster that befell the nantucket whaleship essex, predating the first american print versions of it by more than a dozen years. After the whaleship essex was sunk by a vengeful sperm whale, its crew was left on the high seas for 90 days — causing them to resort to cannibalism
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