Demon of the Waters: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Whaleship Globe

Unlike the Essex from my last read, the whaleship Globe was relatively new. It had sailed out three times, successfully, under Capt. Gardner before Thomas Worth took over in 1822. There are 21 men in all, including a Boatsteerer Samuel Comstock and his little brother, George. Samuel loathed whaling, and shirked authority, but the Globe offered the only opportunity for escape. Worth, feeling the pressure, pushes his men hard, eager to get to Japan in record time. Then, without warning, 6 of the crew jump ship in Hawaii and Worth is forced to replace them with "beachcombers." They quickly fall under Comstock's command. On Jan 26, 1824, Comstock and his cronies brutally murder Worth and 1st Mate Beetle in their beds. The 2nd Mate is then show more shot and the 3rd bayoneted and thrown into the sea. For Comstock, this was only step one..

Much of what we know of Samuel comes from William Comstock's biography of his brother. Problem is, In the 19th c., Samuel would've been considered a "bad seed" and William points to Samuel's childhood disobedience as "signs" of his future actions. It's an easy explanation and Gibson goes along with it, which is problematic. There is also very little about the gentlemen in charge. Their rough treatment and harsh discipline of the whalemen seemingly comes out of nowhere, yet their actions are described as typical. It's all suspiciously impulsive. However, Gibson is incredibly thorough about the inner workings and functions of a whale ship. Gibson actually goes into greater detail than Philbrick's "In the Heart of the Sea" and together they're a great pairing. It's a sensational true crime story and an easy read, but still incomplete.

On August 12, 1819, the whaleship Essex left Nantucket with a crew of 21 men. Among them Capt. Pollard, Jr , first mate Chase, sailor Coffin and cabin boy Nickerson. The ship was old but tough, well traveled but still strong. Pollard and Chase had been crewmates on her before, and were veterans of the hunt. But after many months, and with little to show, they move into "Offshore Ground," an incredibly remote part of the northern Pacific. There, they find a healthy pod of sperm whales. Chase's boat is damaged in the process, and repairs are made on the spot. The innocent "tapping of a hammer" sounding eerily similar to the steady clicks of a male sperm whale...

What happened next was a first in Nantucket history. A bull sperm whale, 85 feet long, charges and rams the Essex "just forward of the forechains." It then moves out, turns around, and strikes again at "a speed of at least six knots." From underneath the 238-ton ship is then tilted and filled with water. Those on board flee to the extra whale boats. All this in the span of 10 minutes! The whale disappears, leaving the crew "just about as far from land as it was possible to be anywhere on earth."

I'm so glad I decided to give this one a re-read and it's as good as I remembered! Philbrick is never a dull read and the fear, determination, and dread will keep you glued to the page. To be attacked by a whale, suffer thirst, hunger, hypernatremia, nicotine withdrawal, AND fight off an orca, all within the first half?! I know folks always say "the book is better than the movie" but honestly this really is. Notably, In the Heart of the Sea was the first to incorporate Nickerson's perspective, whose journal had been discovered in 1960. It builds like a thriller novel, and at only 238 pages, I highly recommend it for folks who don't usually read nonfiction! show less

This is a well-researched book on not only the mutiny Samuel Comstock led on the whaleship Globe, but also the broader history of the whaling industry and its effect on trade and the culture in Nantucket and surrounding areas during the early 19th century.

The true story of the mutiny on the whaler Globe in 1824. After the mutiny the sailors tried to find an island to take over and make thier our empire.