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    In the Wake of Madness: The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon
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    In the Wake of Madness: The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon
    Unavailable
    In the Wake of Madness: The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon
    Ebook317 pages5 hours

    In the Wake of Madness: The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon

    By Joan Druett

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    About this ebook

    The true story of one of history’s most notorious mutinies is revealed in this riveting “nautical murder mystery” (USA Today).
     
    In May 1841, the Massachusetts whaleship Sharon set out for the whaling ground of the northwestern Pacific. A year later, while most of the crew was out hunting, Capt. Howes Norris was brutally murdered. When the men in the whaleboats returned to the ship, they found four crew members on board, three of whom were covered in blood, the other screaming from atop the mast.
     
    Single-handedly, the third officer launched a surprise attack to recapture the Sharon, killing two of the attackers and subduing the other. An American investigation into the murder was never conducted—even when the Sharon returned home three years later, with only four of the original twenty-nine-man crew on board.
     
    Now, an award-winning maritime historian dramatically re-creates the mystery of the ill-fated whaleship—and reveals a voyage filled with savagery under the command of one of the most ruthless captains to sail the high seas.
     
    “When the American whaleship Sharon arrived at Sydney in December 1842, the world first heard of the shocking murder of the captain by several Pacific island natives serving on the crew. Chalking it up to the savage nature of the islanders, no one bothered to investigate. Druett, a widely published maritime historian, retells the familiar story of how the mutineers were overcome but delves deeper into the details of the infamous expedition . . . Druett’s account of the incident will appeal to those looking for a good drama, but also to those analytically minded skeptics inclined to ask questions and dig below the surface.” —Booklist
     
    “Shocking and very satisfying.” —Richard Zack, author of The Pirate Hunter
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateJan 4, 2004
    ISBN9781565127562
    Author

    Joan Druett

    Joan Druett's previous books have won many awards, including a New York Public Library Book to Remember citation, a John Lyman Award for Best Book of American Maritime History, and the Kendall Whaling Museum's L. Byrne Waterman Award.

    Read more from Joan Druett

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    Reviews for In the Wake of Madness

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      Once again, I've dived into the realm of maritime history with New Zealandresident Joan Druett. I've read two of her earlier books about females atsea and greatly enjoyed them. Recently I discovered that Druett has begun towrite a mystery series featuring a character who's a member of the U.S.Exploration Expedition. (I reviewed a book about this expedition earlierthis year.) Since I'm fascinated by the Expedition and I enjoy Druett'swriting, I couldn't wait to get my hands on one of these mysteries, so Iscurried over to Barnes and Noble's website. I wanted to get free shipping,so I just *had* to buy two books. I bought the first in Druett's mysteryseries, A Watery Grave, and this one: In the Wake of Madness, The MurderousVoyage of the Whaleship Sharon.In its day, the murder of Captain Howes Norris by three native sailorsaboard the whaleship Sharon was sensational stuff, but the entire story wasnever told and interest died out rather quickly. Recently journals writtenby men on board the Sharon were unearthed, Druett read them and wrote thisbook. I gobbled it up.The story began in Martha's Vineyard in the late 1830s. Druett sets thescene by explaining how the entire whaling industry began and why iteventually centered in New Bedford. She tells us the backgrounds of each ofthe important "players" on this voyage: Captain Howes Norris, First Officer(and relative of Norris) Thomas Harlock Smith, Second Officer (and anotherNorris relative) Nathan Skiff Smith, and Third Officer Benjamin Clough.When the Sharon sets out on this voyage, Druett gives enough particularsabout how to go whaling and life aboard a whaler to keep you fascinatedwithout going into overkill. Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, weaves inand out of the picture. He was at sea during the same time, knew some of thesailors on board the Sharon, and experienced many of the same things theydid. Fortunately, he did not experience Captain Howes Norris.One of the many tidbits I learned while reading this book is that NewZealand was a center of the American whaling industry and, for a while, hadmore Americans living there than practically any other nationality. Once theBritish government took over there, they made it uncomfortable for theAmericans who were forced to look elsewhere for a base. But I digress.In the Wake of Madness is a deft blend of history and mystery.
    • 3/5
      In the Wake of Madness is half-baked. The material available should have made for a rip-roaring sea-yarn but Druett somehow managed to miss the boat. The mystery of future events is what drives narrative non-fiction forward but she recounts the whole story in summary at the start - an unnecessary spoiler. Despite being a short book it is overloaded with minor characters and the main characters never quite come alive. The second half is an improvement but there is an over-abundance of incident in a short amount of space leaving one somewhat perplexed at the whirlwind of movement. She correctly emphasizes the string of bad luck the ship experienced, a curse almost, finally giving it some narrative mystery. The scene in which the black cook is flogged to death is very moving, as is the mutiny scene. Despite these complaints, this is a work of original research breaking new ground on an old mystery and regardless of any writing technique problems it is a solid work of micro-history.
    • 3/5
      In the early to mid-19th century, the whaling industry offered much profit for those daring enough for the challenge. Think The Deadliest Catch before reality TV. Adventures on the high seas eventually were hot stories in the media (once they got there), as well as the stuff of novels. In fact, the greatest whaling novelist of all time, Herman Melville, intersects this story of the whaleship Sharon several times throughout its course.Perhaps I've too many similar stories that even authentic ones seem formulaic. A sadistic captain terrorizes his crew. Some or all of the crew rebels. In this case, captain is killed. drama and legal issues ensue.The captain of the Sharon was killed by some islander crewmen picked up in the Pacific, but not before he beat a black crewman to death. The islanders then took control of the ship, which was single-handedly retaken by the first mate, who became a hero for his action. The inquiry afterward seemed to avoid the issue of mass desertions before the murder; and the one surviving killer was never even charged with a crime. Author Joan Druett pieced this together from journals recently uncovered, written by the third mate and cooper. While embellished to create a full story; Druett doesn't stay too far from what is known. The result is rather thin...we never really know the characters too well, foreshadowing is not couched in mystery, ("...little did the captain know he had but 17 months to live." While I'm not expecting a completely over-the-top fictional account ala Melville, a little more plausible connecting of the dots could have resulted in a more robust story (say, like Erik Larson). If you like 19th century nautical adventures -- and I do, In The Wake of Madness might scratch an itch. There are a lot of good fiction and non-fiction books covering these same waters...this one doesn't quite make it to the bow, however.
    • 4/5
      This was quite an interesting book, with a realistic look at what a whaling ship was like (and all things considered, I'm quite happy I never shipped out on a whaling vessel!). What caused Captain Howes Norris to be murdered? Why were there so many desertions from the ship? Joan Druett looks beyond the sensational stories of the time to the journals and logs of the crew to piece together the story. It was an easy read, (much easier than the oft-mentioned Moby Dick!) and interesting.
    • 3/5
      [In The Wake of Madness] by Joan DruettAn interesting read. This is the account of the cruise of the whaleship 'Sharon' out of Fairhaven Mass. from 1841 till 1845. Whose Captain was murdered a year later by three of the crewmen. And then the ship being almost single handedly being retaken by the third officer. The story mostly unfolds through the journals and letters of the Third Officer Benjamin Clough and the ships cooper Andrew White. Also other ship logs from other ships that crossed their path.Two things make this simple account very interesting; One, it reveals the sinister side of the whaling industry. At this time, whaling at it's height with over 700 American ships hunting for whales. This leads to ships being manned by sailors with little or no experience. This also seems to be the case with many captains as well as many were given this post at very young ages with only one or two cruises under their belts. This inexperience and youth seems to be a factor in the violence of many Captains to their crews. Two, these years (1841 to 1845) were the same ones that Melville was sailing the same waters. Where he jumped ship (the whaleship Acushnet ). He had seen many of these same conditions that are described in the book on his ship. Also as there were over 20 deserters from the Sharon he might have heard tales about the Mad Captain who flogged a seaman to death. The author Joan Druett references Melville many times during this narrative.She also dwells on the reasons that this chapter in whaling history is not well known.All in all a very readable and interesting history.