In Literature and Popular Culture
Herman Melville wrote about the Essex in "Sketch Fifth" in The Encantadas, focusing on an incident off the Galápagos Islands with an elusive British ship. The story was first published in 1854 in Putnam's Magazine.
Patrick O'Brian adapted the story of the Essex's attack on British whalers for his novel The Far Side of the World. The film adaptation of the novel, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, changed the American ship to a French one, presumably to help box office in the U.S. However it must be noted that the "HMS Surprise" in the film was more along the lines of what the Essex looked like. Evidence for a light frigate such as the Surprise taking on a heavy 44-gun frigate such as the Acheron and prevail is hard to find in the historical record.
Read more about this topic: USS Essex (1799)
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