sound of wood splintering. He looked fore and aft. Heavy ice had closed around them.
âThe ship!â he cried. âHer stern is stove!â
Glancing toward the other thirty-nine ships strung out in a lineâ he saw to his horror that many of them were being crushed between shore and the pack ice.
âAbandon shipââ Captain Boyd ordered. He turned to Tom II. âGet in the nearest whaleboat. Water is coming in the aft cabin.â He departed.
Tom II scrambled to the cabin with the timbers crackling, put on his winter parkaâ grabbed his mittensâ and ran to a whaleboat. The ship was listing severely to one side.
Tom II swung into the whaleboat. Rowers dropped onto their seats.
âLower awayââ he yelled to the men at the stanchion. The whaleboat was lowered onto ice.
âPull her over the ice to open water!â barked Captain Boyd from the deck. The whalers got out of the whaleboatâ stepped onto the iceâ grabbed her linesâ and pulled with all their might.
The
Trident
listed to one side even more.
âAbandon ship!â Captain Boyd now shouted again. They lowered the four whaleboatsâ climbed down the ropes and rope laddersâ and jumped into them. When every last soul was off the shipâ Captain Boyd slid down a rope into the last whaleboat.
The
Trident
was rolling onto her beam ends and splintering under the vise-like grip of the ice. Tom II looked back at her and gasped. In the short time since they had abandoned shipâ the
Trident
had been completely crushed by ice. Her sails had collapsedâ her beams were splintered. Whale oil was spilling onto the ice, the hold, and into the water.
All the men were straining to pull the whaleboats over the rough ice.
âTo seawaterââ the captain rasped. Suddenly an ice block as big as a house was plowing toward the whaleboat. Tom II grabbed the bench he was sitting on with both hands. His knuckles whitened. The seamen strained and hauled the whaleboat as fast as they could. They finally dragged the boat away from the encroaching ice block and reached ice-free waters. They set the whaleboat afloatâ jumped inâ and began rowing away from the ice pack.
Other crews from other ships were desperately hauling their whaleboats as well. Seven ships had slipped free of the ice and were out at seaâ including the
Daniel Webster
. The crew of the
Trident
drew up alongside her and was welcomed aboard. All seagoing whaling ships rescue other whalers in distress. In factâ helping fellow sailors is the first law of the sea. Packed like sardinesâ the sailors stood on the
Daniel Webster
âs deck and in the distance watched the
Trident
and other ships splinter into shreds.
Thirty-two ships were abandoned in the ice near Point Belcherâ west of Barrow; amazingly no lives were lost, which was not often the case. The Eskimos saw it as the oceanâs revenge for killing whales for money instead of for food. Laterâ the Yankee whalers would refer to it as the Disaster of 1871.
On the
Daniel Webster
Captain Boyd sought out her captain. âThis might be the end of whalingââ he said to him. âToo few whalesâ too many wrecks.â
âThis
is
the end of whalingââ the captain answered. âBlack oil has been struck in Pennsylvania. It will be cheaper and it keeps on flowing.â
Captain Tom Boyd stood on the deck with Tom II and looked out on the windyâ gray Arctic Ocean. A lone whale blew. On his chin was a mark shaped like an Eskimo dancerâ his hand upâ his knees bent.
Despite everythingâ Tom II smiled. The whale would be safe for now.
The ship turned south to again face the terrible storms of the Bering Sea.
A blustery six weeks laterâ Captain Boyd and his crew arrived in Hawaii.
Nothing remained of the
Trident.
pumped his scarred flukes and
swam by himself behind his group of whalesâ who
âThe ship!â he cried. âHer stern is stove!â
Glancing toward the other thirty-nine ships strung out in a lineâ he saw to his horror that many of them were being crushed between shore and the pack ice.
âAbandon shipââ Captain Boyd ordered. He turned to Tom II. âGet in the nearest whaleboat. Water is coming in the aft cabin.â He departed.
Tom II scrambled to the cabin with the timbers crackling, put on his winter parkaâ grabbed his mittensâ and ran to a whaleboat. The ship was listing severely to one side.
Tom II swung into the whaleboat. Rowers dropped onto their seats.
âLower awayââ he yelled to the men at the stanchion. The whaleboat was lowered onto ice.
âPull her over the ice to open water!â barked Captain Boyd from the deck. The whalers got out of the whaleboatâ stepped onto the iceâ grabbed her linesâ and pulled with all their might.
The
Trident
listed to one side even more.
âAbandon ship!â Captain Boyd now shouted again. They lowered the four whaleboatsâ climbed down the ropes and rope laddersâ and jumped into them. When every last soul was off the shipâ Captain Boyd slid down a rope into the last whaleboat.
The
Trident
was rolling onto her beam ends and splintering under the vise-like grip of the ice. Tom II looked back at her and gasped. In the short time since they had abandoned shipâ the
Trident
had been completely crushed by ice. Her sails had collapsedâ her beams were splintered. Whale oil was spilling onto the ice, the hold, and into the water.
All the men were straining to pull the whaleboats over the rough ice.
âTo seawaterââ the captain rasped. Suddenly an ice block as big as a house was plowing toward the whaleboat. Tom II grabbed the bench he was sitting on with both hands. His knuckles whitened. The seamen strained and hauled the whaleboat as fast as they could. They finally dragged the boat away from the encroaching ice block and reached ice-free waters. They set the whaleboat afloatâ jumped inâ and began rowing away from the ice pack.
Other crews from other ships were desperately hauling their whaleboats as well. Seven ships had slipped free of the ice and were out at seaâ including the
Daniel Webster
. The crew of the
Trident
drew up alongside her and was welcomed aboard. All seagoing whaling ships rescue other whalers in distress. In factâ helping fellow sailors is the first law of the sea. Packed like sardinesâ the sailors stood on the
Daniel Webster
âs deck and in the distance watched the
Trident
and other ships splinter into shreds.
Thirty-two ships were abandoned in the ice near Point Belcherâ west of Barrow; amazingly no lives were lost, which was not often the case. The Eskimos saw it as the oceanâs revenge for killing whales for money instead of for food. Laterâ the Yankee whalers would refer to it as the Disaster of 1871.
On the
Daniel Webster
Captain Boyd sought out her captain. âThis might be the end of whalingââ he said to him. âToo few whalesâ too many wrecks.â
âThis
is
the end of whalingââ the captain answered. âBlack oil has been struck in Pennsylvania. It will be cheaper and it keeps on flowing.â
Captain Tom Boyd stood on the deck with Tom II and looked out on the windyâ gray Arctic Ocean. A lone whale blew. On his chin was a mark shaped like an Eskimo dancerâ his hand upâ his knees bent.
Despite everythingâ Tom II smiled. The whale would be safe for now.
The ship turned south to again face the terrible storms of the Bering Sea.
A blustery six weeks laterâ Captain Boyd and his crew arrived in Hawaii.
Nothing remained of the
Trident.
pumped his scarred flukes and
swam by himself behind his group of whalesâ who
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