Captain Ahab Captain Ahab Captain Ahab is a fictional character and the main protagonist in Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick" (1851). He is the monomaniacal captain of the whaling ship "Pequod". On a previous voyage, the white whale Moby Dick bit off Ahab's leg, and he now wears a prosthetic leg made out of whalebone. The whaling voyage of the "Pequod" ends up as a hunt for revenge on the whale, as Ahab forces the crew members to support his fanatical mission. When Moby Dick is finally sighted, Ahab's hatred robs him of all caution, and the whale drags Ahab to the bottom of
Whaling in Norway In 1863, Foyn contracted the building of his first whaling ship—a steam powered ship (also with sails) that had seven whaling cannons—the "Spes et Fides" (Hope and Faith). The ship was also fitted with check boards to increase the drag on harpooned whales. He also incorporated a 'compensator' or 'accumulator' from the Roys system—a series of rollers and springs installed below deck—to help the thick whale line, attached to the harpoon, to take up some of the shock without breaking. Svend Foyn, after years of experiments and expeditions, patented the modern whaling harpoon in 1870, and his basic design is