In The Heart Of The Sea: What Happened To The Real Owen Chase

In the Heart of the Sea stars Chris Hemsworth as Owen Chase, the first mate on board the doomed whaling ship, The Essex, the sinking of which would later inspire Moby Dick. While Moby Dick is not a true story, the disaster of The Essex was a real historical event and a harrowing experience for the sailors. In the Heart of the Sea depicts this event and tells the story of the men who survived The Essex sinking from the point of view of Thomas Nickerson (played at different ages by Tom Holland and Brendan Gleeson), the cabin boy, and youngest survivor.

Though the cast of In the Heart of the Sea includes acclaimed actors like Cillian Murphy and Gleeson, the movie received mixed reviews. The storytelling and visuals have been highly praised, along with the performances of the actors, with Hemsworth and the then-newcomer Holland being especially commended. On the other hand, the pacing was less well-regarded, with many reviewers feeling that the story jumped between timelines too often. From a performance perspective, In the Heart of the Sea is one of Chris Hemsworth's best movies, and the story of Owen Chase is particularly fascinating.

Essex First Mate Owen Chase Returned To Nantucket in 1821

Owen Chase And George Pollard Had Both Sailed On The Essex Before The Doomed Voyage

Chris Hemsworth and Tom Holland on a boat in In the Heart of the Sea

Owen Chase was born on Nantucket and was only 21 when he set sail on The Essex in August 1819. The whaling voyage had been expected to last for two and a half years, but The Essex sank after being rammed by a whale in November 1820, andChase was finally rescued in February 1821. He had been on a boat with two other surviving crewmen when they spotted a larger ship and attracted attention. After he and the sailors recovered, four of them returned home to Nantucket in June 1821, where Chase discovered that he had a daughter.

The real Owen Chase was 21 at the time of these events; Chris Hemsworth was 32 when he played him in In the Heart of the Sea.

Chase came from a successful whaling family and knew his way around whaling ships like The Essex. Chase had even sailed on The Essex as a boat steerer in 1817, which is estimated to be his second or third voyage. In the Heart of the Sea's Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) was on the same voyage, working as the first mate to a different captain, with a higher status than Chase. While Pollard also came from a whaling family, In the Heart of the Sea implied that he captained The Essex due to nepotism rather than experience, which is unlikely.

Owen Chase Continued Sailing On Whaling Ships After The Essex Incident

In The Heart Of The Sea Accurately Shows The Real Owen Chase's Sailing Skill

The experiences that Owen Chase and the surviving men from The Essex endured would put many people off sailing for life. That said, despite being profoundly affected by the horror of the shipwreck, Chase returned to whaling just six months after he arrived home in Nantucket. At a time when many people worked in one job, the idea of re-training was less popular than it is today. This is likely to be why all the eight men who survived The Essex's shipwreck returned to whaling, with five of them becoming captains of their own ships.

In the Heart of the Sea's depiction of Chase's whaling experience is relatively faithful, while Pollard's experience was minimized to add dramatic tension. Chase was one of five brothers who all became whaling captains. He had been working on whaling ships since he was in his later teens, taking long voyages and working his way up to the position of first mate. Due to Chase's leadership skills and talent as a sailor, which are both shown in In the Heart of the Sea, whaling was likely his best chance at a good income, even after the shipwreck.

Owen Chase Helped Inspire Moby Dick Before Passing Away In 1869

The Real Owen Chase's Ending Was More Tragic Than In The Heart Of The Sea Showed

In the Heart of the Sea ends with Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) talking to the former cabin boy Thomas Nickerson about his haunting experiences after surviving The Essex sinking. However, this is not quite true, as Nickerson's memoir was not published until after Moby Dick was released. Chase wrote his memoir over four months with the help of a ghostwriter, shortly before returning to whaling. Chase's son William gave Melville a copy of his father's memoir, and his book about The Essex's sinking was a major inspiration source for Moby Dick.

In the Heart of the Sea depicts Chase triumphantly becoming a merchant captain.

While In the Heart of the Sea tells a thrilling story based on the survival of Owen Chase and the sailors, the survivors were traumatized by the desperate measures they took to survive. The real Captain Pollard fasted every year in honor of the sailors, while Chase suffered from nightmares and began hoarding food as he aged. The movie showed the shame that Nickerson felt while being interviewed but was less accurate when it came to Chase. In the Heart of the Sea depicts Chase triumphantly becoming a merchant captain, though this was only part of his story.