by Owen Chase is the first person account.
Along with three other survivors of the Essex, Chase was returned to Nantucket on the Eagle on June 11, 1821 to find he had a 14-month-old daughter he had never seen named Phoebe. An account of the homecoming was later published in a magazine. A large crowd had gathered at the docks to see the survivors arrive and as they disembarked, had parted without a sound. The survivors walked alone to their homes without a word being spoken.[3]
Within four months and with the help of a ghostwriter, he completed an account of the disaster, the Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex; this was used by Herman Melville as one of the inspirations for his novel Moby-Dick.
Two months after the divorce was finalized, Chase married for the fourth and final time. He never sailed again.[2] Memories of the harrowing ordeal haunted Chase. He suffered terrible headaches and nightmares. Later in his life, Chase began hiding food in the attic of his Nantucket house on Orange Street and was eventually institutionalized.[4]
Not a happy life...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Chase
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