Destruction of the Larboard Boat of the "Ann Alexander," by a Sperm Whale, in the South Pacific

Colored woodcut depicting the "Destruction of the Larboard boat of the Ann Alexander, by a sperm whale in the South Pacific." In August 1851, shortly before the release of Moby-Dick, the whaleship Ann Alexander of New Bedford was whaling in the waters where the Essex met her fate nearly two decades earlier. The mate's boat, fast to a whale, suddenly found itself being rushed by its prey. While the ship sanked, the crew were later rescued by the Nantucket two days later.