There is no known photo of Captain Pollard. For illustration purposes, we used a picture of actor Benjamin Walker in the role of Captain Pollard in 2015's movie "In the Heart of the Sea"
July 18, 1791 - Nantucket, Massachusetts - George Pollard Jnr. is born
January(?) 1(?), 1815 - Nantucket - Pollard starts serving aboard the whaleship "Essex" as a second mate
January(?) 1(?), 1819 - Nantucket - Pollard is appointed captain of the "Essex" by the owners, Gideon Folger and Sons
June 17, 1819 - Nantucket - George Pollard marries Mary Riddell
August 12, 1819 - Nantucket - The "Essex" departs Nantucket with Pollard as Master
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| Nantucket |
August 14, 1819 - North Atlantic - A squall hits the "Essex" and knocks her on her side, nearly sinking her. She lost her topgallant sail, and had one whaleboat damaged and two destroyed. Captain Pollard was forced to continue without replacing the two boats or repairing the damage
August 30, 1819 - Flores Island, Azores - The "Essex" reaches the Azores Islands and Pollard provisions the ship - "We lay off and on the island for two days, during which time our boats landed and obtained a supply of vegetables and a few hogs"
September 19, 1819 - Maio Island, Cape Verde - The "Essex" reaches Cape Verde, where the crew picks up an old and leaky whaleboat
October 15(?), 1819 - Between Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires - The first sperm whale is caught. The region was largely fished out, so they head to the Pacific in search of better luck
December 18, 1819 - Cape Horn - The "Essex" arrives at Cape Horn
January 1(?), 1820 - Pacific Ocean - The "Essex' enters the Pacific Ocean after a difficult passage around Cape Horn
January 17, 1820 - St.Mary's Island, Chile - The "Essex" arrives at St.Mary's Island, then sails to Massafuera off the Chilean Coast
February(?) 1(?), 1820 - Masafuera Island, Chile - The "Essex" sails to Massafuera where they get wood and fish
September 1(?), 1820 - Atacames - The "Essex" replenishes its wood and water, with 550 oil barrels already
October 2, 1820 - Decamas - The "Essex" departs to the Galapagos Islands
October 8, 1820 - Española Island (Hood Island), Galapagos Islands - The "Essex" anchors off Hood Island. Over seven days they capture 300 Galápagos giant tortoises to supplement the ship's food stores
October 22, 1820 - Charles Island, Galapagos Islands - The "Essex" then sails for Charles Island, where they take another 60 tortoises. The tortoises weighed from 100 pounds (45 kg) to 800 pounds (360 kg) each. The sailors capture them alive and allow some of them to roam the ship at will; the rest they keep in the hold. The sailors believe the tortoises are capable of living for a year without eating or drinking water (though in fact the tortoises slowly starved). The sailors consider the tortoises delicious and extremely nutritious and would butcher them at sea as needed.
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| Whaleship "Essex". Drawing by 15-year old Thomas Nickerson |
November 16, 1820 - 2,800km W of Galapagos Islands - On a boat in which Owen Chase was commanding, a whale that had been harpooned used its tail to wreck the boat. The crew were all safely returned to the Essex
November 20, 1820 - 2,800km W of Galapagos Islands - The "Essex" is rammed twice by a huge sperm whale and sinks
December 20, 1820 - Henderson Island - Pollard and the crews of the three boats reach Henderson Island
December 27, 1820 - Henderson Island - After 7 days, the men exhaust the island's meager supply of food and decide to sail again. Three of the men opt to stay on the island and were eventually rescued by the trading vessel "Surry"
December 30, 1820 - Within three days they exhaust the crabs and birds they had collected for the voyage, leaving only a small reserve of bread, salvaged from the "Essex"
January 4, 1821 - They estimate that they had drifted too far south of Easter Island to reach it and decide to make for Más a Tierra island, 1,818 miles (2,926 km) to the east and 419 miles (674 km) west of South America
January 20, 1821 - A crew member, Lawson Thomas, dies just as the boats of Pollard and Hendricks had come to the end of their provisions
February 1, 1821 - The food on Pollard's boat is exhausted, and the survivors' situation became dire. The men draw lots to determine who would be sacrificed for the survival of the remainder. A young man named Owen Coffin, Captain Pollard's 17-year-old cousin, whom he had sworn to protect, draws the black spot. Pollard allegedly offers to protect his cousin, but Coffin is said to have replied: "No, I like my lot as well as any other". Lots are drawn again to determine who would be Coffin's executioner. His young friend, Charles Ramsdell, draws the black spot. Ramsdell shoots Coffin; Ramsdell, Pollard, and Barzillai Ray consume the body
February 11, 1821 - Barzillai Ray dies. For the remainder of their journey, Pollard and Ramsdell survive by gnawing on Coffin and Ray's bones
February 23, 1821 - Pollard and Ramsdell are rescued by the whaleship "Dauphin" and taken to Valparaíso
March 5, 1821 - The "Dauphin" encounters the "Two Brothers", which was sailing to Valparaíso and transfers the two men to her
March 17, 1821 - Valparaíso, Chile - Pollard and Ramsdell are reunited with Chase, Lawrence, and Nickerson
August 5, 1821 - Nantucket, Massachusetts - Pollard returns to Nantucket aboard the whaleship "Two Brothers"
November 26, 1821 - Nantucket - Pollard sets sail to the Pacific as master of the "Two Brothers"
February 11, 1823 - French Frigate Shoals, NW Hawaii - During a storm, the "Two Brothers" grounds and sinks on a reef near French Frigate Shoals. Pollard and crew of about 20 men escape in two whaleboats
February 12, 1823 - French Frigate Shoals, NW Hawaii - A vessel sailing nearby, the "Martha", comes to their aid.
February 15(?), 1823 - Oahu, Hawaii - The crew arrives in Oahu abord the "Martha"
April 16, 1823 - Raiatea, Society Islands - Pollard departs to Boston as a passanger aboard the brig "Pearl"
August 1(?), 1823 - Boston - The "Pearl" arrive in Boston
September(?) 1(?), 1823 - Nantucket - Captain Pollard abandons the Sea and becomes Nantucket's night watchman - “No owner will ever trust me with a whaleship again, for all will say I am an unlucky man.”
July 1(?), 1846 - Nantucket - A fire starts in a hat factory and spreads to the center of Nantucket. In the dry summer and with tornado-like convection currents, a third of the city burns, including the Oil warehouses. Pollard's house survives.
January(?) 1(?), 1847 - Nantucket - Ralph Waldo Emerson visits Captain Pollard in Nantucket
July 8, 1852 - Nantucket - Herman Melville meets Captain Pollard: "Saw Capt. Pollard on the island of Nantucket, and exchanged some words with him. To the islanders he was a nobody—to me, the most impressive man, tho’ wholly unassuming, even humble—that I ever encountered."
January 7, 1870 - Nantucket, Massachusetts - George Pollard dies, aged 78 =(END)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PHILBRICK, Nathaniel - "In the Heart of the Sea"
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