The Wreck of the Dumaru, a Story of Cannibalism in an Open Boat

by Lowell Thomas

1930. From the internationally renowned journalist Lowell Thomas comes the story of the ill-starred ship The Dumaru and the fate of her crew. Contents: The Man with the Scarred Face; There Was a Curse Upon Her; Captain, Mate, and Engineer; Graveyard Shaw and George the Greek; From Quarter Deck to Fire Hole They Cursed and Fought; Quiet Prelude Before Catastrophe; She Blows Up Off Guam; The Change of the Trade Wind; We Give Up Hope; The Thirteenth Day-The Madness and Death of Graveyard Shaw; The Body of the Chief Engineer; Honolulu Pete, and the Suicide of Holmes; There Can't Be Any Land-It's All Gone Under the Sea; Safe on the Island of Samar; We Decide to Keep Our Secret; Big Karl Gives Us Away; and The Return of the Survivors. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1930

About the author

Lowell Jackson Thomas was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence. He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen system.

Reviews

[Ken Bilderback · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is incredible (and true). The writing is amateurish, but to me what makes the book worth reading is the glimpse it gives us into the minds of early 20th Century laborers. The tale is full of matter-of-fact racism and anti-Wobbly rants. The storyteller doesn't even try to extrapolate moral lessons from the betrayal, abuse and cannibalism the crew experienced.

[Thomas Burchfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely fascinating account of the real-life shipwreck of the Dumaru, a World War 1-era freighter that blew up and sank off Guam in October 1918. That it made it that far was incredible. Constructed of cheap wood, its cargo consisted of gasoline and high explosives. That it went to sea at all is a tribute to human hubris, blindness and stupidity.

Amazingly, the crew all initially survived the explosion and sinking. Thirty-two of them wound up crowding one of the ship's lifeboats. Even though the island of Guam was only a few miles away when the Dumaru sank, there was no fighting the prevailing winds and currents that forced the lifeboat west on a three-week, thousand-mile voyage to the Philippines. Only half of the men made it alive and the desperate measures they took to survive provide of the core of this grisly tale.

This harrowing story of survival was assembled--I can't quite say written--by the famed journalist, travel writer and companion of T. E. Lawrence, Lowell Thomas, related through the experiences of the ship's first assistant engineer Fritz Harmon.

This is definitely not for the faint of heart. In addition to cannibalism, the book is woven through with the reactionary prejudices that dominated the era. Nevertheless, my impression is that Thomas and Harmon strove to be as accurate and fair-minded as possible.

Worth a read if you're taken by the subject matter . . . but hang on tight!

[Jak Krumholtz · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1918 a poorly constructed ship carrying gas and explosives was struck by lightning on it’s maiden voyage. This is a survivor’s story from an overloaded (32 people for 20 seats) lifeboat that had a leaking water container and was adrift for three weeks. A great used bookstore find.

[Hannnah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really shocking. Mostly because it’s true.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have stated elsewhere that Young Adult literature in my generation meant the likes of Tom Swift or the Hardy Boys adventures or a jump into what was considered adult books. This is one of those books I found in the Junior High School library. Having read With Lawrence in Arabia, I went in search of other books by Lowell Thomas. Here the reporter has chronicled a story of survival at sea in 1918. Thomas is the early 20th Century version of the video documentary, meant for wide circulation and written in a manner to command attention.

Since he wasn't in the boat, he depended on interviews with the survivors to "reconstruct" his account of events. We might categorize this as "creative non-fiction" or more likely a sensationalized version of a tragic and frightening experience shared by a small group of men. I admit, reading this when I was barely in my teens did keep me up a few nights.

[Allan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated attitudes about different cultures exist but the character studies of his shipmates are fascinating as the narrator to Mr. Thomas details the horror of an extended drift in a lifeboat in 1918.