Owen Chase (October 7, 1797 - March 7, 1869) was First Mate of the whale ship Essex, that was struck and sunk by a sperm whale on October 28, 1820. Chase wrote about the incident in Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. This book, published in 1821, would inspire Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick. (Summary from Wikipedia)
