Ann Alexander (ship)

The Ann Alexander was a ship from New Bedford, Massachusetts that was rammed by a wounded sperm whale on August 20, 1851 near the Galapagos Islands.

After the whale had already destroyed two of the ship's boats in its jaws, the ship was holed under the waterline and was abandoned. The crew was rescued on August 22 by the ship Nantucket.

The sinking of the ship may have contributed to the success of Herman Melville's book Moby-Dick. Melville commented, "Ye Gods! What a commentator is this Ann Alexander whale. What he has to say is short & pithy & very much to the point. I wonder if my evil art has raised this monster." [ [http://www.melville.org/hmquotes.htm Melville's Reflections, a page from The Life and Works of Herman Melville] ]

ee also

Essex

References

External links

* [http://www.du.edu/~ttyler/ploughboy/starbuck.htm History of the American Whale Fishery from its Earliest Inception to the Year 1876, by Alexander Starbuck]
* [http://www.melville.org/hmquotes.htm Melville's Reflections, a page from The Life and Works of Herman Melville]