The crew of the Essex left Nantucket on a whaling expedition in August of 1819. They knew that they might be at sea for as long as three years but they had no idea what they were about to encounter.

Find out how 20 men survived a whale attack that sunk their ship only to be forced into three small boats in the middle of the ocean. 

What happens when starvation hits? When your fresh water supply is drained? Or when madness sets in? 

This is a reading of Owen Chase's book Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. 

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