Owen Coffin (August 24, 1802 – February 2, 1821) was a sailor aboard the
Nantucket whaler
A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales.
Terminology
The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...
''
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
'' when it set sail for the Pacific Ocean on a sperm whale-hunting expedition in August 1819, under the command of his cousin,
George Pollard, Jr.
George Pollard Jr. (1791–1870) was the captain of the whalers ''Essex'' and '' Two Brothers'', both of which sank. Pollard's life, including his encounter with the sperm whale that sank ''Essex'', served as inspiration for Captain Ahab, the ...
In November 1820, a whale rammed and breached the hull of ''Essex'' in mid-Pacific, causing ''Essex'' to sink. The crew escaped in small whaleboats, with sufficient supplies for two months, but were not rescued within that time. During January 1821, the near-starved survivors began to eat the bodies of those who had died. When even this resource ran out, the four men remaining in Pollard's boat agreed to
draw straws to decide which of them should be killed, lest all four die of starvation. Coffin lost in the lottery, and was shot and eaten. The captain volunteered to take Coffin's place but Coffin refused, saying it was his 'right' to do so that the others might live.
Coffin was the son of Nancy (Bunker) and Hezekiah Coffin. He was a direct lineal descendant of
Tristram Coffin, Sr, one of the colonizers of
Nantucket Island
Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...
.
In popular culture
*The title song of the 1971 album ''
Nantucket Sleighride
A Nantucket sleighride is the dragging of a whaleboat by a harpooned whale while whaling. It is an archaic term from the early days of open-boat whaling, when the animals were harpooned from small open boats. Once harpooned, the whale, in pain ...
'' by American rock band
Mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...
is titled in full "Nantucket Sleighride (To Owen Coffin)". While there is no evidence that the song is specifically about Coffin or the ship ''Essex'' (and the lyrics are in parts obscure in meaning), it is written from the point of view of a sailor on a ship undertaking a "three-year tour... on a search for the mighty sperm whale", and co-writer
Felix Pappalardi
Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. (December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983) was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist. He is best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the band Mountain, whose song "Mississippi Queen" peaked at ...
, in an interview for the British music weekly ''
Sounds
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
'' (issue dated November 20, 1971), confirmed that the Owen Coffin in the dedication was the one from the ''Essex'' tragedy.
*German
funeral doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...
band
Ahab
Ahab (; akk, 𒀀𒄩𒀊𒁍 ''Aḫâbbu'' 'a-ḫa-ab-bu'' grc-koi, Ἀχαάβ ''Achaáb''; la, Achab) was the seventh king of Israel, the son and successor of King Omri and the husband of Jezebel of Sidon, according to the Hebrew Bib ...
released ''
The Divinity of Oceans'', a concept album about ''Essex'', and one song, ''Gnawing Bones (Coffin's Lot),'' directly references Coffin's fate.
*The story of the ''Essex'' is known to have greatly interested
Herman Melville
Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...
, who annotated a copy of ''
Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex,'' an account of the shipwreck and its aftermath by the ship's surviving first mate,
Owen Chase
Owen may refer to:
Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin.
Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born.
Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...
. The story inspired part of Melville's novel ''
Moby-Dick
''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...
''.
*Owen Coffin was played by British actor
Frank Dillane
Frank Stephenson Dillane (born 21 April 1991) is an English actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Nick Clark on '' Fear the Walking Dead'' (2015–2018) and 16-year-old Tom Riddle in the film ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ...
in the 2015 film adaptation of the story of the ''Essex'', ''
In the Heart of the Sea'', directed by
Ron Howard
Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...
. In the film, the character was renamed as "Henry Coffin", presumably to avoid confusion with
Owen Chase
Owen may refer to:
Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin.
Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born.
Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...
.
*Owen Coffin was played by
Jassa Ahluwalia
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia (born 12 September 1990) is a British actor, director and radio presenter. He acted in the BBC television series ''Some Girls'', the film ''The Whale'' and presented the Disney Junior TV show ''Art Attack''.
Early life ...
in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Middletown, Conn. : Wesleyan University Press ;