Name Globe Builder Nantucket Class and type Whaleship | Owner C. Mitchell, & Co. Out of service 1828 Launched 1815 | |
The whaler Globe, of Nantucket, Massachusetts, was launched in 1815. In 1822 her crew mutinied, killing their officers. By 1824 most of the mutineers were dead or captured, and the vessel itself was back in Nantucket in her owners' hands. She continued to whale until about 1828.
Contents
Early career
Globe made three whaling voyages, 1815–18, 1818–21, and 1821–22, under Captain George Washington Gardner.
The Globe Mutiny
On 22 December 1822, Globe, with a complement of 21 men under the command of Captain Thomas Worth, set sail on a whaling expedition to the Pacific. After finding success in the "off Japan" whaling grounds Globe arrived in Honolulu for provisioning. According to testimony, "Six men ran away in the Sandwich Islands, and one was discharged."
Captain Worth took on seven new crew, four of whom (Silas Payne, John Oliver, William Humphries and Joseph Thomas) played major roles in the mutiny. Samuel B. Comstock, a 22-year-old boatsteerer (harpooner), was the instigator of the mutiny, which occurred on 26 January 1824, near Fanning Island, 900 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands.
The mutineers killed Captain Worth and three other officers. Soon after William Humphries, one of the mutineers, was accused of plotting to take the ship; a kangaroo court of the mutineers tried him and, finding him guilty, hanged him.
On 14 February 1824, the mutineers brought Globe to Mili Atoll. Comstock, the leader of the mutiny, had ambitions of creating his own kingdom on Mili Atoll. The other mutineers suspected that Comstock intended to destroy Globe and kill the rest of crew.
Payne and Oliver and two others shot Comstock. In an atmosphere of distrust existing between the mutineers, Payne and Oliver made an error in judgment by sending Gilbert Smith, a boatsteerer, to secure the Globe. Smith and five other crew cut the anchor cable and set sail, eventually arriving at Valparaiso, Chile, where they were brought into custody by the American consul, Michael Hogan. Globe, under Captain King, was fitted out and returned to Nantucket, with Gilbert Smith as master, arriving in November 1824.
Payne and Oliver attempted to intimidate the islanders, however the islanders massacred most of the remaining mutineers. Out of nine castaways on Mili Atoll, only Cyrus M. Hussey and William Lay survived. They were rescued on 21 November 1825 by U.S. schooner Dolphin, commanded by Lieutenant Commander John Percival.