Essex was an American
whaler from
Nantucket,
Massachusetts, which was launched in 1799. In 1820, while at sea in the southern
Pacific Ocean under the command of Captain
George Pollard Jr., she was attacked and sunk by a
sperm whale. Thousands of miles from the coast of
South America with little food and water, the 20-man crew was forced to make for land in the ship's surviving
whaleboats.
The men suffered severe dehydration, starvation, and exposure on the open ocean, and the survivors eventually resorted to eating the bodies of the crewmen who had died. When that proved insufficient, members of the crew drew lots to determine whom they would sacrifice so that the others could live.
A total of seven crew members were
cannibalized before the last of the eight survivors were rescued.
The tragedy attracted international attention, and inspired
Herman Melville to write his famous 1851 novel
Moby-Dick.
Some time ago i bought the book Delectable Negro (thanks for the gc
Jay), the author describes a lil bit more about the whole situation.