![]() However, the identity of this unexpected find was a mystery. The discovery at French Frigate Shoals was certainly exciting. Kelly Gleason investigates an early 19th century anchor in the reef at the Two Brothers shipwreck site. As the team explored further along the shallows, hawsepipes and the remains of standing rigging were discovered.ĭr. This discovery initiated a larger survey of the area, and soon two more trypots were discovered (for a total of three), another large anchor, and hundreds of bricks scattered in pockets of the reef. After snorkeling around in the area, the team came across the first clue that this site was more than a lone anchor: a trypot set into a hole in the reef top. The age and size of this anchor gave the impression that it was not simply left as a mooring in an anchorage. Within minutes of the first tow, the divers spotted a large anchor in approximately 15 feet of water. Following over three weeks of successful survey in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the team began to explore for new shipwreck sites at French Frigate Shoals using tow board surveys in an area near a historic anchorage. In 2008, a team of NOAA maritime archaeologists made an exciting discovery at French Frigate Shoals. The story of this shipwreck, and the mystery of her possible discovery, connects the small island of Nantucket with one of the largest marine protected areas in the world. Credit: NOAA/Smith.Ĭaptain Pollard's career as a whaling captain was over, but the story of the Two Brothers still remains on the seafloor at French Frigate Shoals within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Kelly Gleason documents a grinding stone at the Two Brothers shipwreck site. The entire crew of Two Brothers was rescued and they headed back to Oahu.ĭr. When they awoke, the crew found the Martha anchored in the lee of a fifty foot tall rock (now called La Perouse Pinnacle). The crew pleaded with their captain to get into the small boats, to which they clung for survival throughout the night. Stunned by the disaster and by his horrible misfortune, Captain Pollard was reluctant to abandon the ship. Not long after, the ship stuck the reef and found herself surrounded by breakers. Sailing in consort with the whaleship Martha, they encountered stormy weather in the vicinity of French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. She made her way around Cape Horn, up the west coast of South America, and headed towards newly discovered whaling grounds in the Pacific. The Two Brothers set sail for the Pacific, leaving Nantucket on November 26, 1821. However, this dramatic experience was not the final chapter in Pollard's career as a whaling captain.Īfter his return to Nantucket, he was given command of the whaleship Two Brothers, a vessel smaller than the Essex at 222 tons. After the tragedy of the Essex, Captain George Pollard and other survivors endured a 95-day journey in small boats that resulted in sickness, starvation, and, ultimately, cannibalism. Many are familiar with the fate of the Nantucket whaleship Essex, stove by a whale in the Pacific Ocean and cited as the inspiration for Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Credit: Nantucket Historical Association. The Tragic Tale of the Nantucket Whaleship Two BrothersĪ sketch by Thomas Nickerson depicting the attack and sinking of the ship Essex. Lightning Strikes Twice: The Real Life Sequel to Moby Dick In 2008, a team of NOAA maritime archaeologists discovered the first clues of the whaleship Two Brothers and began to unlock the mystery of the only Nantucket whaleship ever found on the seafloor.Ĭlick here to watch the full film (You will be directed to a non NOAA server) Having survived the tragic events of the Essex, one of the world's most infamous seafaring disasters, and the true life events that inspired Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick, Pollard optimistically set sail for the Pacific once again in the whaleship Two Brothers, believing with all his heart "that it was an old adage that the lightning never struck in the same place twice." In this case it did, and Pollard's promising career as a whaling captain came to a tragic end on an uncharted reef in the most remote archipelago on earth, and what is now Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. came to a dramatic end in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In the middle of the night on February 11, 1823, the seafaring career of Captain George Pollard, Jr. This is the story of a whaleship lost on a remote reef, one very unlucky captain, and a team of archaeologists with the discovery of a lifetime. ![]() Lightning Strikes Twice: The Real Life Sequel to Moby Dick. Your browser does not support the video tag.
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