Look for Gloucesterman (David Coffin from Gloucester MA) on the NBC documentary Revenge of the Whale, The Story of the Wreck of the Whaleship Essex.

"Revenge of the Whale" A Special NBC News Presentation Airing Friday, September 7th at 8pm Narrated by Liam Neeson Produced and Directed by Geoff Stephens Primary Interview and Consultant, Nathaniel Philbrick Music Arranged and Performed by David Coffin

In 1820 Nantucket was the busiest and richest whaling port in the world. Her ships ranged far and wide hunting Sperm Whales for their valuable oil. On the far edge of the Pacific - the edge of the known world for the Nantuckers - the Whaleship Essex was in the first year of a three year whaling voyage. On a calm morning the Essex was hunting whales when a huge bull Sperm Whale - as large as the ship, and heavier - suddenly turned on them and attacked the ship. The enraged, and apparently vengeful whale rammed the Essex twice, causing her to sink.

The stunned whalemen filled their three 25ft whaleboats with as much water and food as they could. Ignorant and fearful of cannibals they decided not to sail west with the prevailing winds to Tahiti (only a month's sail away), instead set course on an impossible odyssey across thousands of miles of open water to the coast of Chile. With only rudimentary navigation, exposed to the sun and storms, they drifted for three months across the open sea. Finally running out of water and food, they were forced to draw lots, to kill and eat one another. Eight men out of twenty survived.

The Essex tragedy was the basis for "Moby Dick". It is a tale of remarkable courage, endurance and pathos, of men driven to the edge of darkness, forced to make the most awful decisions in order to survive.

The story is told through the diaries of three of the men who survived: Thomas Nickerson, the cabin boy, 14 years old when the ship sailed, his is a dramatic coming of age tale; Owen Chase, the hard-driving, macho, impetuous First Mate whose steely discipline saved many lives, but who hesitated at the one moment when the whale could have been driven off, a hesitation that tormented him his whole life, and eventually drove him insane; George Pollard, the Captain, quiet, and indecisive, who gave in to Chase's bullying and made several fatal errors and who carried the most terrible burden of all; he had to execute and eat his own cousin, but whose deep strength of character allowed him to endure and prosper.

The NBC film, is based on the best selling book "In the Heart of the Sea" (winner of the 2001 National Book Award). Author Nathaniel Philbrick serves as consultant and primary interview.

Revenge of the Whale Narrated by Liam Neeson Produced and Directed by Geoff Stephens Edited by Andrew Finkelstein Director of Photography Curt Worden Written by Geoff Stephens & John Hockenberry Associate Producer Carolyn Goldman Assistant Producer Kim Krawitz Music Arranged and Performed by David Coffin