Owen Coffin

Who was Owen Coffin?

Owen Coffin was a teen-aged sailor aboard the Nantucket whaleship Essex 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. In November the next year, a whale rammed and stove in the hull of the Essex in mid-Pacific, and the ship sank steadily.

The crew of the Essex escaped in small whaleboats, with sufficient supplies for two months, but were not rescued in that time. During January 1821, the near-starved survivors began to eat the bodies of those who 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 slaughtered, lest all four die of starvation. Coffin 'lost' the lottery, and was shot and eaten. The captain volunteered to take his place but Coffin refused, saying it was his 'right' to do so that the others might live.