Description: (Sailor)
George Pollard Jr. was a respected captain of the whalers Essex and Two Brothers, both of which tragically sank during his command. His encounter with a sperm whale that sank the Essex inspired the character Captain Ahab in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. Pollard's career was defined by his leadership in the perilous world of whaling, where he encountered adversity and tragedy at sea but also became a lasting source of literary inspiration.