ADRIFT ON THE OCEAN

Hokitika Guardian, 3 October 1931, Page 6

ADRIFT ON THE OCEAN

SUFFERINGS OF SAILORS. WRECK OF THE DUMARU. LOSS OF EIGHTEEN LIVES. A story of the suffering of shipwrecked sailors in an open boat is told in “The Wreck of the Daniaru” recently published. Many garbled versions of the story appeared in American newspapers when the survivors, of tliyu Dumaru were rescued, but the account given in this hook is by Fred Harmon, first assistant engineer of the Duma-ru, as he told it to Lowell Thomas, the

j American author. The Dumaru was a woodenship, built at Portland, United States, when the German submarines were playing havoc with the merchant shipping of the Allies. Like others of her class, she was I built of green timber, and was a subi ject of scorn and derision among sail- | ors. No one wanted to go to sea in her; but a scratch Crew was got together, whiclli included men who had never been to sea, but "’ere anxious to escape being conscripted for military service in France. The vessel, after taking on board a cargo of petrol and explosives at San Francisco, to be discharged at Honolulu and at the Island of Guam and J the Philippines, for the use of the AmI erican Navy, left on her maiden voyI age. She reached Honolulu and Guam J in safety, and left the latter port on October 16, 1918, for Philippines. STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. A few hours after leaving Guam she ran into a severe storm, and was struck by lightning, which ignited the fumes from the petrol drums and set ! fire to the ship. Owing to the rapidity j with which the -fire spread, only two j lifeboats were launched. It was real- ' ised that the ship would explode when the fire reached the explosives, and I therefore there was the utmost haste on the part of the crew to get away. The first boat, in charge of the third j mate, had only nine men on board, ! but the second, in charge of the first 1 mate, was crowded with 32. The captain and five sailors launched a life raft and clung to it. All assumed that there would be no difficulty in reaching Guam, which had been left a few hours before. On board the lifeboat which carried 32 men a sail was hoisted, and a course was set for Guam, but owing to the danger of being driven on the reef which surrounds the island the sail was lowered at night , before the island was reached, nad a sea anchor was put out. In the morning a start was made for t! e island, but half i n hour later the wind, which had been blowing toward the island, veered round and blew off it. The sail was useless with an offshore wind, for the boat would not itack. I The wind increased to a gale, and j blew the boat out of sight of land, j This was the trade wind, which, after I blowing for weeks from one quarter, always veers ruond and blows steadily from the opposite quarter. These unfortunate--sailors had the misfortune to encounter the change when in sight of Guam. DEATHS FROM HUNGER AND THIRST After trying for nearly a. week to remain in the vicinity of Guam in a bort which would not tack it w s decided to run before the wind, realising that eventually the boat would reach the Philippines, which stretched across their course for nearly 260 miles. It was 1300 miles to the Philippines, and owing to the fact that the boat carried nearly twice as many men as as she had accommodation for the small supplies of water and biscuits soon gave out. The first death occurred oil the thirteenth day, and after that death came rapidly to men suffering from hunger and thirst and exposed to a sun and cold nights. Sixteen deaths occurred before the boat was washed up on the twenty-four day o n Samar, one of the Philippine islands, and two men were drowned when the boat overturned in the surf. • Tile suryivers were treated kindly by the natives of a neighbouring village, and eventually reached Manila where they learned that the nine occupants of the first boat had been reilriied, after making the voyage to the Philippines in comparative comfort, because the boat was amply provisioned with water and biscuits for | such a small number.