Ron Howard’s 2015 movie In the Heart of the Sea depicts the final voyage of the EsSєx whaleship and the horrifying events that occurred after the ship sank. In the Heart of the Sea boasts an impressive cast led by Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Tom Holland, and Cillian Murphy, who each portray real people who sailed on the EsSєx. The movie details the events leading to the ship’s sinking, including it being attacked by a whale, along with the drastic measures that the men had to take to stay alive.

Despite its gripping subject matter and great cast, the movie was unsuccessful when it was first released. While In the Heart of the Sea‘s ending does provide some context for what happened after the EsSєx sank and the survivors were rescued, their stories continued long after that point. Only eight of the EsSєx‘s crew survived out of the 20 who were aboard the ship when it sank, but the survivors went on to continue their careers and some even wrote accounts of the ordeal.

8

George Pollard Jr.

The EsSєx’s Captain Went Back To Sailing In 1822

George Pollard served as the captain of the EsSєx whaling ship during its fateful voyage in the Southern Pacific Ocean. After the EsSєx sank, George Pollard captained one of the small whaleboats on which he survived along with Charles Ramsdell. Pollard was rescued on February 23, 1821, and later reunited with the other survivors, but he was too weak to travel and only returned to Nantucket several months after the other survivors. When he finally arrived home, Pollard was greeted at the dock by 1,500 Nantucket residents (via Nantucket Historical ᴀssociation).

After returning to Nantucket, Pollard captained another whaling ship called the Two Brothers, and he was joined by survivors Thomas Nickerson and Charles Ramsdell. However, Pollard’s ship sank again in the Pacific Ocean, though, luckily, he and his crew were all rescued very shortly afterward. After unsuccessfully captaining two whaling ships, Pollard sailed on one merchant vessel and then retired from the sea. For the remainder of his life, he served as a constable in Nantucket and fasted every year on the anniversary of the EsSєx sinking. Pollard pᴀssed away in 1870 at the age of 78.

7

Owen Chase

After Surviving The EsSєx Sinking, Chase Wrote A Memoir

EsSєx‘s first mate, Owen Chase, portrayed by Chris Hemsworth, survived the ship’s sinking in a different whaleboat than Captain George Pollard, and he was found on February 18, 1821. Chase, along with three of the other whaleboat survivors, left South America for Nantucket in March 1821. As portrayed in In the Heart of the Sea, Chase meets his daughter for the first time upon his return home. Owen Chase later returned to the sea and continued his whaling career for several decades, even becoming a part-owner of the whaling ship Charles Carroll.

Immediately following his return to Nantucket, Owen Chase wrote a memoir of his experience of the EsSєx sinking. While In the Heart of the Sea shows Herman Melville speaking to an elderly Thomas Nickerson to gain inspiration for his book, in real life Owen Chase’s account of the ordeal was the inspiration for Moby-Dick. After Chase’s wife died, he married second mate Matthew Joy’s widow, creating an odd connection. Later in his life, Chase’s traumatic experiences began to take a toll on him, and he went insane before pᴀssing away in 1869 (via NHA).

6

Thomas Nickerson

The Youngest Crew Member Continued Sailing

At the time that the EsSєx began its voyage, cabin boy Thomas Nickerson was only 14 years old, making him the youngest survivor of the EsSєx. In the film, Nickerson is portrayed by Hemsworth’s fellow MCU star, Tom Holland, as a boy and by Brendan Gleeson as an older man who recounts the sad tale. Along with Owen Chase, Nickerson also wrote an account of the EsSєx sinking, though his was lost until 1960 and only published in 1984. While not truly an inspiration for Herman Melville, Nickerson’s account does help expand on an important and tragic moment in history.

Following the events of In the Heart of the Sea, Thomas Nickerson kept sailing, first with George Pollard and later on cargo ships. After retiring from sailing, Nickerson became the owner of a boarding house with his wife as In the Heart of the Sea shows. While the movie does change Nickerson’s story slightly with the addition of Melville, overall the film is faithful to the events and emotions present in his book itself. Nickerson lived until 77 years old, pᴀssing away in 1883.

5

Benjamin Lawrence

Lawrence Captained 2 Whaleboats After Surviving The EsSєx

Benjamin Lawrence was the third man on Owen Chase’s whaleboat, along with Chase and Nickerson, who survived. He returned to Nantucket in March 1821 with Chase, Nickerson, and Ramsdell. Like several of the other survivors of the EsSєx, Lawrence continued sailing, and he became the captain and part owner of the ship Dromo. Lawrence continued sailing until the 1840s but eventually retired to become a guard at an asylum.

After the EsSєx sank, Benjamin Lawrence returned to Nantucket and married Eliza Pitman in 1824, and they had six children. Along with his work as an asylum guard, Lawrence also owned a small farm in Siasconset which he tended for the rest of his life. The boatsteerer, who had been born on Nantucket, also pᴀssed away there in 1879 at the age of 80, making him one of the oldest survivors (via NHA).

4

Thomas Chappel

Chappel Retired From Sailing After Being Rescued

On the EsSєx, Thomas Chappel served as a boatsteerer for the second mate, Matthew Joy. Following the EsSєx‘s sinking, the men eventually drifted to Henderson Island, which they believed to be Ducie Island, where they survived on the island’s natural resources for a week. After deciding that they would not be able to survive on the very limited resources that the island offered, the majority of the men decided to venture back out into the ocean. However, Thomas Chappel along with two other men decided to stay behind, and all three were ultimately rescued.

As In the Heart of the Sea outlines, Pollard did spread the word that three men had opted to stay on Henderson Island, and they were rescued by the British ship Surry in April 1821, less than two months after the rescue of the five whaleboat survivors (via Nantucket Historical ᴀssociation). Upon returning to Nantucket then his native England, Thomas Chappel retired from sailing altogether. Instead, he became a missionary. However, Chappel died from plague fever on the island of Timor, making him one of two EsSєx survivors who did not die of natural causes.

3

Charles Ramsdell

Ramsdell Captained Another Whaleship After Being Rescued

After being rescued from the EsSєx whaleboat along with George Pollard, Charles Ramsdell returned to Nantucket along with Chase, Nickerson, and Lawrence in March 1821. However, when Pollard returned safely several months later and was made the captain of the Two Brothers, Ramsdell again joined the crew. Despite the sinking of the Two Brothers and the subsequent rescue of the crew, Ramsdell was not deterred from sailing.

After sailing as a crew member under Pollard again, Charles Ramsdell continued sailing and eventually became the captain of several whaling ships. Ramsdell became the captain of the General Jackson as well as the Lydia in the 1830s, giving the survivor a successful career despite his sailing misfortunes as a teenager. During his life, Ramsdell was married two times. After retiring from sailing, he returned to Nantucket, where he was born, and eventually pᴀssed away in 1866.

2

William Wright

Wright Was One Of The Survivors Of Henderson Island

Along with Thomas Chappel, William Wright was one of the three men who survived by staying on Henderson Island. While In the Heart of the Sea does not explore this connection, the three men who stayed on Henderson Island were all off-islanders, meaning that they were not from Nantucket, which likely contributed to their decision to stay on land rather than face the unknown of the sea (via NHA). While the island’s resources were still very limited, this decision ultimately may have saved their lives, as it kept them from resorting to cannibalism as the men in whaleboats had done.

Like the other two survivors from Henderson Island, William Wright worked aboard the Surry as they were transported home. After his return home, there is less information known about Wright than many of his companions. However, based on historian Nathaniel Philbrick’s account of In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship EsSєx, which also served as inspiration for the movie, Wright died in the West Indies in a hurricane. This fate implies that he continued sailing after the EsSєx.

1

Seth Weeks

Weeks Was The Final Survivor Of The EsSєx

16-year-old seaman Seth Weeks was the third man who chose to stay on Henderson Island rather than return to sea after the EsSєx sank. Initially from Barnstable, Mᴀssachusetts, Seth Weeks returned home after being rescued by the Surry. Unlike several of the survivors who continued sailing, Seth Weeks retired after the EsSєx and went on to live a long life in Cape Cod. Weeks actually became the oldest and final survivor of the EsSєx, living to 84 years old, Weeks pᴀssed away in 1887.

The eight survivors of the EsSєx, particularly those in the whaleboats, lived with the hardship of their experiences throughout their lives. The story is both full of courage and full of painful and horrifying decisions. While Weeks was the final survivor of the EsSєx, the ship’s story and legacy have lived on since then. Though there were certainly a few changes to better fit the movie format, In the Heart of the Sea does a good job of sharing the story of the men who survived and furthering their legacy.

Source: Nantucket Historical ᴀssociation & Nantucket Historical ᴀssociation