The Whaling Venture

The North Water

The Volunteer’s commercial voyage changes from a hopeful hunt into a concealed insurance fraud and a disaster that consumes the crew.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Fading Trade A Fading Trade from "The North Water". Whaling Under Pressure A business in decline Jacob Baxter recognizes that petroleum and coal gas are displacing whale oil.

A Fading Trade from "The North Water". Whaling Under Pressure A business in decline Jacob Baxter recognizes that petroleum and coal gas are displacing whale oil.

Whaling Under Pressure A business in decline Jacob Baxter recognizes that petroleum and coal gas are displacing whale oil. The Greenland trade now demands costly equipment and luck, while successful voyages are less certain. Arthur Brownlee still believes the northern waters can yield a profitable catch, even as Baxter urges him to focus on a different purpose. A voyage with another aim The Volunteer sails with strong harpooners but an unusual command arrangement. Its whaling mission conceals a plan to profit from the ship’s loss.

A Profitable Start A Profitable Start from "The North Water". Early Returns Seals and optimism The crew reaches the ice and kills hundreds of seals, producing a promising first return.

A Profitable Start from "The North Water". Early Returns Seals and optimism The crew reaches the ice and kills hundreds of seals, producing a promising first return.

Early Returns Seals and optimism The crew reaches the ice and kills hundreds of seals, producing a promising first return. Brownlee calculates the value and expects further gains. The successful hunt raises morale and gives the crew reason to believe that the season may still be worthwhile. Cost of the catch The hunt also establishes the voyage’s governing logic: living animals become skins and oil, and labor is measured by yield. The apparent success masks the larger scheme surrounding the ship.

Whales in the North Whales in the North from "The North Water". A Moment of Promise The first whale Black’s boat strikes the Volunteer’s first whale in the North Water.

Whales in the North from "The North Water". A Moment of Promise The first whale Black’s boat strikes the Volunteer’s first whale in the North Water.

A Moment of Promise The first whale Black’s boat strikes the Volunteer’s first whale in the North Water. The crew coordinates harpoons and lances until the animal dies. The kill briefly makes the ship feel like a shared enterprise rather than a collection of wary men. A tenuous reprieve The whale yields valuable blubber and baleen, and Brownlee imagines financial success. Yet the catch cannot resolve the conflict between actual whaling and the secret plan to lose the ship.

A Deliberate Wreck A Deliberate Wreck from "The North Water". The Ship Is Scuttled Damage as opportunity Ice pressure damages the Volunteer, but Henry Drax tells Cavendish that the hull is not fatally broken.

A Deliberate Wreck from "The North Water". The Ship Is Scuttled Damage as opportunity Ice pressure damages the Volunteer, but Henry Drax tells Cavendish that the hull is not fatally broken.

The Ship Is Scuttled Damage as opportunity Ice pressure damages the Volunteer, but Henry Drax tells Cavendish that the hull is not fatally broken. The revelation threatens the intended insurance loss. Cavendish enters the hold with Drax and discovers that the damage can be repaired. Rather than abandon the scheme, he takes an axe to the timbers. Fraud secured The ship sinks after the deliberate breach. The crew believes the disaster is unavoidable, while Cavendish turns an ice emergency into the loss required by the plan.

The Price of Fraud The Price of Fraud from "The North Water". Profit and Aftermath The loss is paid Jacob Baxter collects insurance after both ships are lost, while widows and families are left with dead or missing men.

The Price of Fraud from "The North Water". Profit and Aftermath The loss is paid Jacob Baxter collects insurance after both ships are lost, while widows and families are left with dead or missing men.

Profit and Aftermath The loss is paid Jacob Baxter collects insurance after both ships are lost, while widows and families are left with dead or missing men. Public accounts frame the event as an Arctic catastrophe, concealing deliberate decisions that helped produce it. A survivor disrupts the story Patrick Sumner’s return threatens the neatness of Baxter’s explanation. Baxter attempts to silence and manage him, but Sumner’s presence keeps the concealed crime alive.

Before sailing from Hull

The first weeks north of Lerwick

Late June, upon entering the North Water

During the Lancaster Sound ice emergency

After the survivors reach Hull