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Whaling ship logistics
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Whaling ship logistics
How was 19th century ship tonnage reported?Did a runaway apprentice become captain of a ship?Which ship sank and made the news for its chaotic evacuation around the year 1912?How many people worked to build one Liberty ship?Yamato class 3rd ship?Has there been a recorded account of a cabin boy inspiring mutiny on board a ship?What methods were used for onboard ship communication during WW2?British ship movements immediately after the armistice of 22 June 1940What ship is this and which military campaign?
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I have read Moby Dick, and watched "In The Heart of The Sea". It's absolutely fascinating but what I can't figure out is the logistics of whaling in the 1800s.
In the movie I mentioned, you see them on the deck of their ship with their slain whale, melting down the blubber. How did they have space to do that there? It didn't look like that big a ship. And then Owen Chase at one point says that on one trip they returned with 8000 barrels of oil. Where the heck did they put that many barrels? The ship's hull had to accommodate all the provisions, the crew's quarter, etc etc etc.
There is a paucity of information on how these ships were laid out. Same thing for any ship of that era for that matter. The HMS Bounty etc.
Question: has this information been lost to history? All my google searches return nothing but small images with little detail and there does not appear to exist any book on the subject. What would be great is a book of the sort that exists for Star Wars ships - cross sections, technical specifications, etc - but for real ships!
ships whaling boats
asked 8 hours ago
Duke LetoDuke Leto
3791 gold badge3 silver badges8 bronze badges
add a comment
|
I have read Moby Dick, and watched "In The Heart of The Sea". It's absolutely fascinating but what I can't figure out is the logistics of whaling in the 1800s.
In the movie I mentioned, you see them on the deck of their ship with their slain whale, melting down the blubber. How did they have space to do that there? It didn't look like that big a ship. And then Owen Chase at one point says that on one trip they returned with 8000 barrels of oil. Where the heck did they put that many barrels? The ship's hull had to accommodate all the provisions, the crew's quarter, etc etc etc.
There is a paucity of information on how these ships were laid out. Same thing for any ship of that era for that matter. The HMS Bounty etc.
Question: has this information been lost to history? All my google searches return nothing but small images with little detail and there does not appear to exist any book on the subject. What would be great is a book of the sort that exists for Star Wars ships - cross sections, technical specifications, etc - but for real ships!
ships whaling boats
asked 8 hours ago
Duke LetoDuke Leto
3791 gold badge3 silver badges8 bronze badges
1
Will await an answer from someone with better data, but I think flensing of blubber was usually done in the water, lifting only sections onto deck.
– Aaron Brick
8 hours ago
2
gazette665.com/2017/06/15/… Which year was the 8000 barrels of oil figure supposed to be? It certainly seems a bit high if we consider that this source gives a top displacement of 400t by the 1850's.
– SJuan76
8 hours ago
add a comment
|
I have read Moby Dick, and watched "In The Heart of The Sea". It's absolutely fascinating but what I can't figure out is the logistics of whaling in the 1800s.
In the movie I mentioned, you see them on the deck of their ship with their slain whale, melting down the blubber. How did they have space to do that there? It didn't look like that big a ship. And then Owen Chase at one point says that on one trip they returned with 8000 barrels of oil. Where the heck did they put that many barrels? The ship's hull had to accommodate all the provisions, the crew's quarter, etc etc etc.
There is a paucity of information on how these ships were laid out. Same thing for any ship of that era for that matter. The HMS Bounty etc.
Question: has this information been lost to history? All my google searches return nothing but small images with little detail and there does not appear to exist any book on the subject. What would be great is a book of the sort that exists for Star Wars ships - cross sections, technical specifications, etc - but for real ships!
ships whaling boats
asked 8 hours ago
Duke LetoDuke Leto
3791 gold badge3 silver badges8 bronze badges
I have read Moby Dick, and watched "In The Heart of The Sea". It's absolutely fascinating but what I can't figure out is the logistics of whaling in the 1800s.
In the movie I mentioned, you see them on the deck of their ship with their slain whale, melting down the blubber. How did they have space to do that there? It didn't look like that big a ship. And then Owen Chase at one point says that on one trip they returned with 8000 barrels of oil. Where the heck did they put that many barrels? The ship's hull had to accommodate all the provisions, the crew's quarter, etc etc etc.
There is a paucity of information on how these ships were laid out. Same thing for any ship of that era for that matter. The HMS Bounty etc.
Question: has this information been lost to history? All my google searches return nothing but small images with little detail and there does not appear to exist any book on the subject. What would be great is a book of the sort that exists for Star Wars ships - cross sections, technical specifications, etc - but for real ships!
ships whaling boats
ships whaling boats
asked 8 hours ago
Duke LetoDuke Leto
3791 gold badge3 silver badges8 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
Duke LetoDuke Leto
3791 gold badge3 silver badges8 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
Duke LetoDuke Leto
3791 gold badge3 silver badges8 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
Duke LetoDuke Leto
3791 gold badge3 silver badges8 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
Duke LetoDuke Leto
3791 gold badge3 silver badges8 bronze badges
3791 gold badge3 silver badges8 bronze badges
1
Will await an answer from someone with better data, but I think flensing of blubber was usually done in the water, lifting only sections onto deck.
– Aaron Brick
8 hours ago
2
gazette665.com/2017/06/15/… Which year was the 8000 barrels of oil figure supposed to be? It certainly seems a bit high if we consider that this source gives a top displacement of 400t by the 1850's.
– SJuan76
8 hours ago
add a comment
|
1
Will await an answer from someone with better data, but I think flensing of blubber was usually done in the water, lifting only sections onto deck.
– Aaron Brick
8 hours ago
2
gazette665.com/2017/06/15/… Which year was the 8000 barrels of oil figure supposed to be? It certainly seems a bit high if we consider that this source gives a top displacement of 400t by the 1850's.
– SJuan76
8 hours ago
1
1
Will await an answer from someone with better data, but I think flensing of blubber was usually done in the water, lifting only sections onto deck.
– Aaron Brick
8 hours ago
Will await an answer from someone with better data, but I think flensing of blubber was usually done in the water, lifting only sections onto deck.
– Aaron Brick
8 hours ago
2
2
gazette665.com/2017/06/15/… Which year was the 8000 barrels of oil figure supposed to be? It certainly seems a bit high if we consider that this source gives a top displacement of 400t by the 1850's.
– SJuan76
8 hours ago
gazette665.com/2017/06/15/… Which year was the 8000 barrels of oil figure supposed to be? It certainly seems a bit high if we consider that this source gives a top displacement of 400t by the 1850's.
– SJuan76
8 hours ago
add a comment
|
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
In the Heart of the Sea is primarily based on a famous historical ship which is also was part of the inspiration for Herman Melville's Moby Dick. That ship was named Essex. Launched at Nantucket in 1799, it was lost at sea in 1820 along with most of the crew in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. It was apparently attacked and destroyed by an angry sperm whale.
As mentioned in a comment by @AaronBrick, the blubber would have been stripped from the whale still in the water next to the ship, and then hoisted one strip at a time onto the deck. The process of removing the blubber from the whale is known as flensing. Blubber was indeed boiled down to liquid oil and stored in large barels on the holds of ships. These ovens for boiling blubber are known as tryworks.
Here is a nice (if simplistic) diagram of how the Essex would have been laid out. As you can see the tryworks was relatively compact but a large section of the hold would have been dedicated to barrels. The barrels would have held drinking water on the way out to sea and whale oil on the way back home. According to that site, the number of barrels was more like 1,200.
If you're interested in learning more about the Essex disaster and it's historical context, I cannot recommend strongly enough the excellent documentary Into the Deep from PBS' American Experience series. There are also many good illustrated history books just about early American whaling, including an illustrated edition of the memoir written by a survivor of the Essex disaster, Owen Chase.
answered 5 hours ago
Brian ZBrian Z
6,63713 silver badges29 bronze badges
1
Another edition of the The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex is also available to borrow on archive.org.
– sempaiscuba♦
5 hours ago
2
Melting fat over an open flame in a wooden ship, surrounded by +1000 barrels of oil. I take it they didn't tell OSHA.
– Ryan_L
2 hours ago
add a comment
|
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1 Answer
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In the Heart of the Sea is primarily based on a famous historical ship which is also was part of the inspiration for Herman Melville's Moby Dick. That ship was named Essex. Launched at Nantucket in 1799, it was lost at sea in 1820 along with most of the crew in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. It was apparently attacked and destroyed by an angry sperm whale.
As mentioned in a comment by @AaronBrick, the blubber would have been stripped from the whale still in the water next to the ship, and then hoisted one strip at a time onto the deck. The process of removing the blubber from the whale is known as flensing. Blubber was indeed boiled down to liquid oil and stored in large barels on the holds of ships. These ovens for boiling blubber are known as tryworks.
Here is a nice (if simplistic) diagram of how the Essex would have been laid out. As you can see the tryworks was relatively compact but a large section of the hold would have been dedicated to barrels. The barrels would have held drinking water on the way out to sea and whale oil on the way back home. According to that site, the number of barrels was more like 1,200.
If you're interested in learning more about the Essex disaster and it's historical context, I cannot recommend strongly enough the excellent documentary Into the Deep from PBS' American Experience series. There are also many good illustrated history books just about early American whaling, including an illustrated edition of the memoir written by a survivor of the Essex disaster, Owen Chase.
answered 5 hours ago
Brian ZBrian Z
6,63713 silver badges29 bronze badges
1
Another edition of the The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex is also available to borrow on archive.org.
– sempaiscuba♦
5 hours ago
2
Melting fat over an open flame in a wooden ship, surrounded by +1000 barrels of oil. I take it they didn't tell OSHA.
– Ryan_L
2 hours ago
add a comment
|
In the Heart of the Sea is primarily based on a famous historical ship which is also was part of the inspiration for Herman Melville's Moby Dick. That ship was named Essex. Launched at Nantucket in 1799, it was lost at sea in 1820 along with most of the crew in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. It was apparently attacked and destroyed by an angry sperm whale.
As mentioned in a comment by @AaronBrick, the blubber would have been stripped from the whale still in the water next to the ship, and then hoisted one strip at a time onto the deck. The process of removing the blubber from the whale is known as flensing. Blubber was indeed boiled down to liquid oil and stored in large barels on the holds of ships. These ovens for boiling blubber are known as tryworks.
Here is a nice (if simplistic) diagram of how the Essex would have been laid out. As you can see the tryworks was relatively compact but a large section of the hold would have been dedicated to barrels. The barrels would have held drinking water on the way out to sea and whale oil on the way back home. According to that site, the number of barrels was more like 1,200.
If you're interested in learning more about the Essex disaster and it's historical context, I cannot recommend strongly enough the excellent documentary Into the Deep from PBS' American Experience series. There are also many good illustrated history books just about early American whaling, including an illustrated edition of the memoir written by a survivor of the Essex disaster, Owen Chase.
answered 5 hours ago
Brian ZBrian Z
6,63713 silver badges29 bronze badges
1
Another edition of the The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex is also available to borrow on archive.org.
– sempaiscuba♦
5 hours ago
2
Melting fat over an open flame in a wooden ship, surrounded by +1000 barrels of oil. I take it they didn't tell OSHA.
– Ryan_L
2 hours ago
add a comment
|
In the Heart of the Sea is primarily based on a famous historical ship which is also was part of the inspiration for Herman Melville's Moby Dick. That ship was named Essex. Launched at Nantucket in 1799, it was lost at sea in 1820 along with most of the crew in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. It was apparently attacked and destroyed by an angry sperm whale.
As mentioned in a comment by @AaronBrick, the blubber would have been stripped from the whale still in the water next to the ship, and then hoisted one strip at a time onto the deck. The process of removing the blubber from the whale is known as flensing. Blubber was indeed boiled down to liquid oil and stored in large barels on the holds of ships. These ovens for boiling blubber are known as tryworks.
Here is a nice (if simplistic) diagram of how the Essex would have been laid out. As you can see the tryworks was relatively compact but a large section of the hold would have been dedicated to barrels. The barrels would have held drinking water on the way out to sea and whale oil on the way back home. According to that site, the number of barrels was more like 1,200.
If you're interested in learning more about the Essex disaster and it's historical context, I cannot recommend strongly enough the excellent documentary Into the Deep from PBS' American Experience series. There are also many good illustrated history books just about early American whaling, including an illustrated edition of the memoir written by a survivor of the Essex disaster, Owen Chase.
answered 5 hours ago
Brian ZBrian Z
6,63713 silver badges29 bronze badges
In the Heart of the Sea is primarily based on a famous historical ship which is also was part of the inspiration for Herman Melville's Moby Dick. That ship was named Essex. Launched at Nantucket in 1799, it was lost at sea in 1820 along with most of the crew in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. It was apparently attacked and destroyed by an angry sperm whale.
As mentioned in a comment by @AaronBrick, the blubber would have been stripped from the whale still in the water next to the ship, and then hoisted one strip at a time onto the deck. The process of removing the blubber from the whale is known as flensing. Blubber was indeed boiled down to liquid oil and stored in large barels on the holds of ships. These ovens for boiling blubber are known as tryworks.
Here is a nice (if simplistic) diagram of how the Essex would have been laid out. As you can see the tryworks was relatively compact but a large section of the hold would have been dedicated to barrels. The barrels would have held drinking water on the way out to sea and whale oil on the way back home. According to that site, the number of barrels was more like 1,200.
If you're interested in learning more about the Essex disaster and it's historical context, I cannot recommend strongly enough the excellent documentary Into the Deep from PBS' American Experience series. There are also many good illustrated history books just about early American whaling, including an illustrated edition of the memoir written by a survivor of the Essex disaster, Owen Chase.
answered 5 hours ago
Brian ZBrian Z
6,63713 silver badges29 bronze badges
answered 5 hours ago
Brian ZBrian Z
6,63713 silver badges29 bronze badges
answered 5 hours ago
Brian ZBrian Z
6,63713 silver badges29 bronze badges
answered 5 hours ago
Brian ZBrian Z
6,63713 silver badges29 bronze badges
6,63713 silver badges29 bronze badges
1
Another edition of the The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex is also available to borrow on archive.org.
– sempaiscuba♦
5 hours ago
2
Melting fat over an open flame in a wooden ship, surrounded by +1000 barrels of oil. I take it they didn't tell OSHA.
– Ryan_L
2 hours ago
add a comment
|
1
Another edition of the The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex is also available to borrow on archive.org.
– sempaiscuba♦
5 hours ago
2
Melting fat over an open flame in a wooden ship, surrounded by +1000 barrels of oil. I take it they didn't tell OSHA.
– Ryan_L
2 hours ago
1
1
Another edition of the The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex is also available to borrow on archive.org.
– sempaiscuba♦
5 hours ago
Another edition of the The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex is also available to borrow on archive.org.
– sempaiscuba♦
5 hours ago
2
2
Melting fat over an open flame in a wooden ship, surrounded by +1000 barrels of oil. I take it they didn't tell OSHA.
– Ryan_L
2 hours ago
Melting fat over an open flame in a wooden ship, surrounded by +1000 barrels of oil. I take it they didn't tell OSHA.
– Ryan_L
2 hours ago
add a comment
|
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Will await an answer from someone with better data, but I think flensing of blubber was usually done in the water, lifting only sections onto deck.
– Aaron Brick
8 hours ago
2
gazette665.com/2017/06/15/… Which year was the 8000 barrels of oil figure supposed to be? It certainly seems a bit high if we consider that this source gives a top displacement of 400t by the 1850's.
– SJuan76
8 hours ago