pequod is a fictional 19th-century nantucket whaling ship that appears in the 1851 novel "moby-dick" by american author herman melville. "pequod" and her crew, commanded by captain ahab, are central to the story, which, after the initial chapters, takes place almost entirely aboard the ship during a three-year whaling expedition in the atlantic, indian and south pacific oceans. most of the characters in the novel are part of "pequod"s crew, including the narrator ishmael.