When Captain George Pollard Jr.’s ship was rammed by a whale, he had no idea it would help make literary history.

But times were changing: Whale populations ... squall battered the Essex, terrifying the inexperienced crew. The ship began to creak and listed dangerously. Captain Pollard managed to reach ...

It is about the whaling ship "Essex," which sank after being attacked by a sperm whale. Nickerson is based on the ship's cabin boy and played by Brendon Gleeson in the movie's present timeline ...