The White Jacket written by Herman Melville (best known for his classic whaling novel) was first published in 1850 and is considered to be a semi-biographical book, written from Melville"s own personal experiences while returning home to the Atlantic Coast from the South Seas with the American Navy on a man-o-war vessel. In the note preceding the novel, Melville states, "In the year 1843 I shipped as "ordinary seaman" on board of a United States frigate then lying in a harbor of the Pacific Ocean. After remaining in this frigate for more than a year, I was discharged from the service . . ."