The Ann Alexander was a ship from New Bedford that was rammed by a wounded sperm whale on August 20, 1851 near the Galapagos Islands. (The whale had already destroyed two of the ship's boats in his jaws.) The ship was holed under the waterline and was abandoned. The crew were rescued on August 22 by the ship Nantucket .

The sinking of the ship contributed to the success of Herman Melville's book Moby Dick. Melville commented, "Ye Gods! What a commentator is this Ann Alexander whale. What he has to say is short & pithy & very much to the point. I wonder if my evil art has raised this monster." [1]

External links:

History of the American Whale Fishery from its Earliest Inception to the Year 1876, by Alexander Starbuck. [2]

More Decency and Order: Women and Whalemen in the Pacific by Joan Druett, 1987. [3]