Pequod (Moby-Dick) Pequod (Moby-Dick) Pequod is a fictional 19th-century Nantucket whaling ship that appears in the 1851 novel "Moby-Dick" by American author Herman Melville. "Pequod" and her crew, commanded by Captain Ahab, are central to the story, which, after the initial chapters, takes place almost entirely aboard the ship during a three-year whaling expedition in the Atlantic, Indian and South Pacific oceans. Most of the characters in the novel are part of "Pequod"s crew, including the narrator Ishmael. Ishmael encounters the ship after he arrives in Nantucket and learns of three ships that are about to leave on three-year cruises. Tasked by
Whaling in Norway many whaling ships built in Norwegian shipyards for Japan. Some of the Norwegian built whaling ships from businesses that failed in Newfoundland were also bought by Japanese companies. Norwegian and Scottish investors established the United States Whaling Co. in Sandefjord in 1910 with Peder Bogen as its managing director. The company built three whaling ships in Seattle (to avoid delays in production) and leased a steamer to use as a floating factory. Baranof Island was the site of its shore station. The factory ship was condemned by locals who claimed foreigners would destroy whale stocks with cheap Norwegian labor. Catches