author

Thomas H. Jenkins

A New Bedford whaling captain, he left behind a vivid firsthand account of one of the most dramatic disasters in American whaling history. His writing brings the danger, routine, and sheer unpredictability of life at sea into sharp focus.

1 Audiobook

Bark Kathleen sunk by a whale : $b to which is added an account of two like occurrences, the loss of ships Ann Alexander and Essex

Bark Kathleen sunk by a whale : $b to which is added an account of two like occurrences, the loss of ships Ann Alexander and Essex

by Thomas H. Jenkins

About the author

Thomas H. Jenkins was a sea captain from the New Bedford, Massachusetts, area who worked in the whaling trade in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Surviving records connect him with several whaling voyages, including command of the Gay Head II in the 1880s and the bark Kathleen in 1901.

He is best known for Bark Kathleen Sunk by a Whale, a 1902 account of the loss of his ship after it was rammed and sunk by a whale in the South Atlantic. The book stands out as a direct, practical narrative from a working captain, and it remains of interest to readers drawn to maritime history, whaling, and true survival stories.

Although little biographical detail is easy to confirm beyond his seafaring career, Jenkins's surviving work offers a rare voice from the final era of American whaling. His account is valuable not just for its drama, but for the plainspoken way it captures a world of long voyages, hard labor, and constant risk.