The Captain's Final Voyage - Descent into Drinking
Ten voyages made his name; the last one, and the bottle, unmade it.
Captain William Plaskett was known as “a skilful, experienced, and energetic” whaling captain who commanded ten voyages from Nantucket and New Bedford.
But his final voyage ended in disgrace. The ship’s log recorded his descent into “excessive drinking” during the Pacific voyage. He died in Tahiti on July 31, 1845, at age 46 — far from his wife Nancy and children in Nantucket.
One of his children, also named William, would eventually move to California, connecting the Nantucket whaling Plasketts to the West Coast. The captain’s portrait still hangs in the Nantucket Historical Association, a reminder of both his achievements and his tragic end.
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