Photographic Portrait of Owen Chase
Item
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Identifier
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GPN4448
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Title
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Photographic Portrait of Owen Chase
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Creator
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Unknown
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Measurements
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10.1 x 6.3 cm (4 x 2 1/2 inches)
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Date Created
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Before 1868
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Description
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A photograph of Owen Chase in which he is seated, his left hand resting on a box on a table beside him. Chase, who was born on Nantucket, served aboard the Essex twice before her fateful voyage: first as a sailor in 1815-1816 and then as a boatsteerer/harpooner in 1817-1819, both times under Captain Daniel Russell. Chase was promoted to first mate of the “Essex” when Russell was given command of the newly-built whaleship “Aurora” of Nantucket and Russell’s first mate, twenty-eight-year-old George Pollard, Jr., was promoted to captain of the “Essex”. Chase was twenty-one years old. As first mate, Chase was responsible for keeping the crew in line and recording information about the ship, the crew, and the hunt in the ship’s logbook. He also commanded one of the "Essex"'s whaleboats as its boatheader, with Benjamin Lawrence as his boatsteerer/harpooner and Thomas Nickerson as his after oarsman. As boatheader, he was responsible for steering the whaleboat; directing his oarsmen, whose backs were to the front, or “bow” of the whaleboat; and killing the whale when it had tired itself out. After the knockdown, Chase, along with second mate Joy, convinced Captain Pollard After the wreck of the “Essex”, Chase, again with Joy, convinced Captain Pollard to attempt to South America rather than to French Polynesia. Chase, Lawrence, and Nickerson were rescued by the “Indian” of London after 91 days, on February 18, 1821. Upon returning to Nantucket, Chase published “Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex.”
Owen_Chase_Photo.jpg