White Jacket

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Herman Melville

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Drawing on Melville’s year aboard a U.S. Navy frigate, this vivid novel exposes the harsh, often brutal life of the common sailor—flogging, tyranny, and injustice under the guns of a man-of-war—through the eyes of a seaman known by his makeshift white jacket. Part gripping sea narrative, part passionate social protest, it helped spur the abolition of flogging in the American navy. Rich in detail and moral force, White-Jacket is a powerful indictment of cruelty and a stirring portrait of shipboard life. Both adventure and reform tract, it reveals Melville’s deep sympathy for the oppressed and his mastery of the world of the sea.

About the Author

Herman Melville

Herman Melville (1819–1891) was an American writer who drew heavily from his own experiences as a merchant sailor and whaler in the Pacific. He produced novels, short stories, and poetry that examined moral complexity and the sea, though he remained relatively obscure during his lifetime…

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Listen to White Jacket Audiobook Free

Listen to White Jacket by Herman Melville free online. The full audiobook (17 hr 31 min, 91 chapters, read by James K. White) streams free on this page.

White Jacket (1850) is a public domain work.

#	Chapter	Length
1	I - Preface and The Jacket	7:02
2	II - Homeward Bound	4:53
3	III - A Glance At The Principal Divisions, Into Which A Man-of-War's Crew Is Divided	13:46
4	IV - Jack Chase	13:29
5	V - Jack Chase on a Spanish Quarter-Deck; <br />VI - The Quarter-Deck Officers, Warrant Officers, and Berth-Deck Underlings Of A Man-of-War; Where They Live In The Ship; How They Live; Their Social Standing On Shipboard; And What Sort Of Gentlemen They Are	30:30
6	VII - Breakfast, Dinner, And Supper	7:36
7	VIII - Selvagee Contrasted With Mad-Jack	11:32
8	IX - Of The Pockets That Were In The Jacket; <br />X - From Pockets To Pickpockets	11:37
9	XI - The Pursuit of Poetry Under Difficulties	11:39
10	XII - The Good or Bad Temper of Men-of-War's Men, In a Great Degree, Attributable to Their Particular Stations and Duties Aboard Ship	15:03
11	XIII - A Man-of-War Hermit In A Mob	7:54
12	XIV - A Draught In A Man-of-War;<br /> XV - A Salt-Junk Club In A Man-of-War, With A Notice To Quit	29:35
13	XVI - General Training In A Man-of-War	20:04
14	XVII - Away! Second, Third, and Fourth Cutters, Away!	7:30
15	XVIII - A Man-of-War Full As A Nut	4:03
16	XIX - The Jacket Aloft	8:52
17	XX - How They Sleep In A Man of War	6:59
18	XXI - One Reason Why Men-of-War's Men Are, Generally, Short-Lived	8:24
19	XXII - Wash-Day And House-Cleaning In A Man-Of-War	11:27
20	XXIII - Theatricals In A Man-of-War	17:58
21	XXIV - Introductory To Cape Horn	10:43
22	XXV - The Dog-Days Off Cape Horn	10:53
23	XXVI - The Pitch of the Cape	16:20
24	XXVII - Some Thoughts Growing Out Of Mad Jack's Countermanding His Superior's Order	13:28
25	XVIII - Edging Away	9:09
26	XXIX - The Night-Watches	9:27
27	XXX - A Peep Through a Port-Hole at the Subterranean Parts of a Man-of-War	9:28
28	XXXI - The Gunner Under Hatches	11:16
29	XXXII - A Dish of Dunderfunk	5:52
30	XXXIII - A Flogging	13:27
31	XXXIV - Some of the Evil Effects of Flogging	11:25
32	XXXV - Flogging Not Lawful	11:41
33	XXXVI - Flogging Not Necessary	13:38
34	XXXVII - Some Superior Old "London Dock" From the Wine-Coolers of Neptune	6:05
35	XXXVIII - The Chaplain and Chapel In A Man-of-War	10:49
36	XXXIX - The Frigate In Harbour.--The Boats.--Grand State Reception of The Commodore	15:05
37	XL - Some of the Ceremonies in a Man-of-War Unnecessary and Injurious	4:26
38	XLI - A Man-of-War Library	6:55
39	XLII - Killing Time In A Man-of-War In Harbour	17:54
40	XLIII - Smuggling In A Man-of-War	15:24
41	XLIV - A Knave In Office In A Man-of-War	27:10
42	XLV - Publishing Poetry In A Man-of-War	4:23
43	XLVI - The Commodore on the Poop, And One of 'The People" Under the Hands of the Surgeon	13:20
44	XLVII - An Auction In A Man-of-War	16:51
45	XLVIII - Purser, Purser's Steward, And Postmaster In A Man-of-War	8:11
46	XLIX - Rumors Of A War, And How They Were Received By The Population Of The Neversink	6:57
47	L - The Bay of All Beauties	8:08
48	LI - One of "The People" Has An Audience With The Commodore And The Captain On The Quarter-Deck	7:58
49	LII - Something Concerning Midshipmen	14:25
50	LIII - Seafaring Persons Peculiarly Subject To Being Under The Weather.--The Effects Of This Upon A Man-Of-War Captain	7:18
51	LIV - The People Are Given "Liberty"	13:36
52	LV - Midshipmen Entering The Navy Early	5:56
53	LVI - A Shore Emperor On Board A Man-Of-War	12:14
54	LVII - The Emperor Reviews The People At Quarters	6:02
55	LVIII - A Quarter-Deck Officer Before The Mast	4:42
56	LIX - A Man-Of-War Button Divides Two Brothers	8:33
57	LX - A Man-Of-War's-Man Shot At	4:50
58	LXI - The Surgeon Of The Fleet	11:40
59	LXII - A Consultation Of Man-Of-War Surgeons	7:35
60	LXIII - The Operation	28:06
61	LXIV - Man-Of-War Trophies	6:24
62	LXV - A Man-Of-War Race	14:45
63	LXVI - Fun In A Man-Of-War	8:27
64	LXVII - White-Jacket Arraigned At The Mast	12:58
65	LXVIII - A Man-Of-War Fountain, And Other Things	10:11
66	LXIX - Prayers At The Guns	12:22
67	LXX - Monthly Muster Round The Capstan	13:24
68	LXXI - The Genealogy Of The Articles Of War	7:52
69	LXXII - "Herein Are The Good Ordinances Of The Sea, Which Wise Men, Who Voyaged Round The World, Gave To Our Ancestors, And Which Constitute The Books Of The Science Of Good Customs" --The Consulate Of The Sea	16:46
70	LXXIII - Night And Day Gambling In A Man-Of-War	13:11
71	LXXIV - The Main-Top At Night	21:50
72	LXXV - "Sink, Burn, And Destroy."--Printed Admiralty Orders In Time of War	12:43
73	LXXVI - The Chains	9:07
74	LXXVII - The Hospital In A Man-Of-War	19:08
75	LXXVIII - Dismal Times In The Mess	6:13
76	LXXIX - How Man-Of-War's Men Die At Sea	8:35
77	LXXX - The Last Stitch	7:52
78	LXXXI - How They Bury A Man-Of-War's Man At Sea	2:49
79	LXXXII - What Remains Of A Man-Of-War's Man After His Burial At Sea	3:15
80	LXXXIII - A Man-Of-War College	13:01
81	LXXXIV - Man-Of-War Barbers	13:58
82	LXXXV - The Great Massacre of the Beards	20:51
83	LXXXVI - The Rebels Brought To The Mast	5:07
84	LXXXVII - Old Ushant At The Gangway	12:36
85	LXXXVIII - Flogging Through The Fleet	10:12
86	LXXXIX - The Social State In A Man-Of-War	8:26
87	XC - The Manning Of Navies	27:08
88	XCI - Smoking-Club In A Man-Of-War, With Scenes On The Gun-Deck Drawing Near Home	14:55
89	XCII - The Last Of The Jacket	11:35
90	XCIII - Cable And Anchor All Clear	7:30
91	The End	6:34