Owen Chase (October 7, 1797 - March 7, 1869) was First Mate of the whale ship Essex, that was struck and sunk by a sperm whale on November 20, 1820. Chase wrote about the incident in Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. This book, published in 1821, would inspire Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick.<br/><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Chase">Wikipedia</a><br/><a href="http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D1%80%D1%83%D1%88%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%C2%AB%D0%AD%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%C2%BB">Крушение «Эссекса»</a>