“Moby Dick and Hull

Resource Pack

To find out more about the novel, Herman Melville, and activities suitable for students studying the book and the play, click below to download our Educational Resource Pack.

Whaling began in Hull in 1598 with the discovery of Greenland by Sir Hugh Willoughby, this was when the first whaling ship sailed from Hull. The whaling trade in Hull peaked in 1820 when 62 vessels returned with the produce from 688 whales which were worth approximately £250,000. On South Street in Hull was Bateman and Bowman’s Whalebone manufactures that created all kinds of different products ranging from sieves to sofa backings in a variety of different colours. 

A year later after the peak of the Whaling industry, 9 vessels were crushed in the ice and due to this a lot of investors withdrew their money and the fleet of ships was reduced by a third. A year later 6 vessels were lost, and eight others failed to catch a single whale. 46 years later in the late 1860’s only two powered vessels left Hull, they were Truelove and Diana. A year later the Diana, which was the last remaining vessel in Hull, washed up on the Lincolnshire coast after a disaster in 1867, which caused the death of 13 men one of which was the ship's captain. After these drastic incidents the whaling industry moved to Scotland with a new generation of vessels. 

Catching a Whale 

Whales were harpooned by a whaler in a small boat. This would not kill the whale but would allow the whaler to keep contact with the whale. Whales would then try to flee and swim away, pulling the whaleboat with them. The whalers would use long spears to try and stab between the whale’s ribs and kill it before towing it back to the ship. 

The favoured whale to catch was the Greenland Right Whale because it was classed amongst whalers as the 'right' whale to hunt as it was slow, not too dangerous and floated when it was dead. Although whaling was very profitable, and often, whalers would go to great lengths to kill one, it could be said that it was also wasteful as most of the carcass was abandoned overboard. 

A Maritime City…

Hull is Yorkshire’s only maritime city. The city and the surroundings of the river Humber had played a major role in nautical and maritime history over many centuries. The location of Hull meant that its role as a major port created a rich history, specifically within the fishing and whaling trade, as well as passenger and freight travel. Hull’s location has been an important trade route to Scandinavia, the Netherlands and the Baltic for many centuries. 

In the late 12th century, the monks needed a port to export their possessions from their estates. They decided to choose a spot along the river Humber and built a quay and named it Wyke upon Hull. In 1299 Hull was called Kingston (King’s Town) upon Hull. King Edward I set about making Hull bigger and built an exchange where you can buy and sell goods. 

Since the Medieval times Hull has had main trading links with Scotland and Northern Europe. Scandinavia, the Baltic and the Low Countries were all key trading areas for Hull’s merchants. Hull also traded with France, Spain and Portugal. As Hull’s maritime industry grew, Hull’s trading links expanded throughout the world which meant docks such as Alexander Dock were specifically built and opened to serve the frozen meat trade of Australia, New Zealand and South America. Hull was the centre of an inland and coastal trading network which meant they served the whole of the United Kingdom. 

The Demise of the Industry

Although the whaling industry eventually moved to Scotland, still the city continued to fish!  At its height about 8,000 trawler men worked out of Hull on 320 trawlers, and probably three times that worked in fish processing on the land. It was the work of Lillian Bilocca and the Headscarf Revolutionaries in Hull that meant radios were put in fishing boats, saving countless lives. Ultimately, Hull stopped being a fishing city after the Cod Wars with Iceland. Iceland cut off their fishing waters due to political disputes in 1975. For Hull, this left no fishing ground to actually fish in, and the fishing industry, too, collapsed. The impact on Hull was huge. Thousands lost their jobs and few received redundancy payments. Many more had lost their lives at sea, and now the trawling history which Hull had built its wealth on was gone. The city plummeted. If you look today, the effects of losing so much can still be seen. There are still yearly commemorations to the trawlermen who lost their lives.