REIGN OF TERROR ON THE HIGH SEAS

books:


	• In the Wake of Madness: The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon Joan Druett, 2003 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 10 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Whither The Whaler?

Joan Druett is from New Zealand. This means she has a maritime background, ipso facto. Right? So why did she attempt to tell a sea story using only landsman's terminology? It is okay to say "port" and "starboard," Joan. Clews, tacks, sheets, can be easily described. I think her editor made her do it. I feel a little more "salt" in her vocabulary would help. The fact is, there is only one rope on a ship, and that is the bell rope. Everything else is a line.

That said, her book is a record of incompetence. Knowing he had a green crew, did the captain undertake exercises? No. A little practice in lowering the boats and hurling harpoons at empty casks might've helped. Since he was after sperm whales, why did he not go to the nearby Gulf of Mexico where they are abundant? Instead, he takes six months to get to the West Pacific via Capetown -- which, by the way, her tracing of the course of the Sharon in the South Atlantic cannot be from the logbook, which would surely show the vessel heading toward Brazil and then turning toward the Cape, as this course utilizes the prevailing winds. One does not sail south along the west coast of Africa in a square-rigger (as shown on the flyleaf) due to adverse winds and currents.

Three years searching for whales and not finding them. Missing half the time with the harpoon. Not even lowering when whales are sighted. Men falling out of the rigging. No wonder there were problems on that ship.

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REIGN OF TERROR ON THE HIGH SEAS

"Whaling captains were men who left their souls at home."

On May 25, 1841, the whaling ship Sharon departed Fairhaven, Massachusetts for the limitless Pacific. She sailed under the command of Captain Howes Norris.

The sun was already setting on America's whaling industry. Consistent successful voyages had inspired investors to build more and more ships, which swelled America's whaling fleet to its largest in history. This resulted in an acute shortage of competent sailors--especially harpooners--which thereupon resulted in unqualified crews manning the ships, and particularly the whaleboats, the small craft dispatched to harpoon the whales. Not to mention, years of successful voyages had drastically reduced the sperm whale population. Now, what few whales were sighted, inexperienced harpooners often failed to drive in the harpoon deeply enough to kill, or even missed their gargantuan targets altogether. If a whaling master failed to bring home at least 1,500 barrels of oil, he seriously risked never being granted a command again.

And the somewhat inexperienced, somewhat innocent crew of the Sharon weighed anchor under the restless command of Howes Norris. It was to become one of the most notorious voyages of the 19th century.

Month after month slid by . . . the Sharon paced along the broiling equator, ever hopeful, but seldom satisfied. If she stopped at an island for provisions, desertion was commonplace. Men would jump ship in the night and swim a half-mile to shore. And so natives were taken aboard to fill vacancies. A somewhat inexperienced crew was rendered even more inexperienced.

On a fine Pacific day in November 1842, as the vast majority of the scant crew were out in the whaleboats, Captain Norris was viciously murdered--literally cut in two--by natives recruited at Rotuma. What could have inspired such horrific violence? Was this an unprovoked attack by savages? Or was it retribution?

This is one of the most readable nautical books I've ever read. The author convincingly evokes the monotony of life at sea, the explosive results of close quarters, the frustration of a captain on a fruitless voyage, and the terror of a man with unquestionable authority. With this book, I could feel the deck swaying beneath my feet; I could see the wet decks steaming in the equatorial sun.

The author paints beautiful portraits of exotic locales visited by the Sharon, islands such as Nukuoro, Rotuma, Banaba, and Kiribati. She also draws compelling parallels between the Sharon's ugly voyage and the fiction of Herman Melville, who himself served aboard whalers and witnessed firsthand the cruelty of angry shipmasters.

Anyone looking to start a nautical library--this book would be a perfect first purchase.

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Mad Man Across the Water

High seas adventure with one of the most psychopath captains to command a ship. While it is a well known fact that many captains, especially those of whaling ships, were rigid, callous and at times barbaric in their conduct, Howes Norris was in the upper echelon of this deranged behavioral class.
Whether it was horrific floggings, withholding food, or senseless other malicious acts of torment, some may say that Norris got what was coming to him. Joan Druett attempts to unfold the mystery of Norris' murder through two journals that were shrouded in secrecy for over 150 years.
It is a good, entertaining read. For this reader though, the evidence is still inconclusive as to who was really responsible for Norris' death. All indications are that the two slain natives were held accountable but who was really the instigator?

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A decent book...

Add this to the list of maritime disaster books that are springing up. As this book doesn't go into as much detail about the whaling industry as several of the others, it is a very quick read (a rainy weekend should do it). Of interest were the sections on beachcombers and runaway slaves.

It is well written and is a page turner. Most of the material comes from 2 "long lost" journals written by 2 members of the crew. Unfortunately they did not witness the actual murder so there is some question as to what actually happened.

This is an enjoyable read (that you can actually get at your local B&N for $4.98 right now (hardcover even)).. If you like this you might also try:

Moby Dick (the book almost all of these other "non-fictional" books reference.

Neil Hanson's Custom of the Sea
Gregory Gibson's Demon of the Water
Glyn Williams' The Prize of All the Oceans (my favorite of the group)
Mike Dash's Batavia's Graveyard
Caroline Alexander's The Bounty
Sir John Barrow's Mutiny
Nathanial Philbrick's In the Heart of Sea
Davis Shaw's The Sea Shall Embrace Them
Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm
Doug Stanton's In Harm's Way

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reviews: page 1, 2

IN THE WAKE OF MADNESS is the gripping true story of one of the bloodiest mutinies of the nineteenth century, written by an award-winning maritime historian. In 1841, Massachusetts whaleship Sharon set out for the whaling grounds of the northwestern Pacific. Twelve men deserted the ship, and three Pacific Islanders joined the crew. The story of the mutiny, the murder and the ship's eventual recapture unfolds in breathless detail. An aspiring young writer of the time eagerly followed this true story: his name was Herman Melville.

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