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Alexander Selkirk -

Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish privateer, was left stranded on Más a Tierra island (now known as Robinson Crusoe Island) in the Juan Fernández archipelago, Chile, after a disagreement with his crew. His humble abode was a cave, shown in the picture.

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Alexander Selkirk -

In 1704 after agreeing to be marooned, Selkirk gathered some provisions such as food, clothes, a musket, and a Bible, and disembarked the ship, Cinque Ports. 

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Alexander Selkirk -

Selkirk had to wait until February 1709 to be rescued, which came in the form of Captain Woodes Rogers and a band of privateers arriving on the island. Daniel Defoe's renowned castaway character in the 1719 novel 'Robinson Crusoe' was inspired by Selkirk's story.

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Narcisse Pelletier -

In 1858, when he was just 14 years old, Narcisse Pelletier, a French cabin boy, found himself deserted on the Cape York Peninsula in Australia. Luckily, he was welcomed into the Uutaalnganu, an Aboriginal community, and became a cherished member of their society.

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Narcisse Pelletier -

Pelletier was unwillingly returned to France 17 years later in 1875, after being spotted by the crew of a passing ship, the John Bell. 

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Juana Maria -

Juana Maria, famously known as the "Lone Woman of San Nicolas," was a Native American woman from the Nicoleño tribe. Tragically, her tribe perished, leaving her stranded for 18 years on San Nicolas Island, located off the coast of California.

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Juana Maria -

Juana Maria, found by Captain George Nidever in 1853, was brought to Santa Barbara but sadly succumbed to dysentery just two months later. 

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Marguerite de La Rocque -

Marguerite de La Rocque, a French noblewoman, found herself stranded for approximately two years on the Isle of Demons, located close to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in Quebec, around the year 1542. Marguerite de La Rocque reportedly planned to travel to a Canadian colony when she formed a relationship with another traveler. 

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Marguerite de La Rocque -

Consequently, both of them, along with their servant, were abandoned on an island by the ship's captain. As the tale goes, Marguerite de La Rocque became pregnant and managed to give birth, although her partner and servant sadly passed away not long afterwards. De La Rocque was rescued by fishermen and returned to Europe.

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James Riley -

In 1815, Captain James Riley from the United States was stranded near the coast of what is now Western Sahara. He and his crew braved the Sahara Desert, but ended up being imprisoned by Sahrawi locals and forced into slavery. Captain Riley documented this experience in his memoir, 'Sufferings in Africa,' published in 1817.

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Ada Blackjack -

In 1921, Ada Blackjack embarked on an expedition to Wrangel Island, located in the Arctic Ocean and today part of Russian territory. The Iñupiat woman was joined by a small team of settlers.

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Ada Blackjack -

Due to adverse weather conditions and limited food supply, a portion of the team decided to depart in search of aid. Blackjack chose to remain with a companion who tragically died. Ada Blackjack remarkably endured solitude for a staggering eight months until her rescue on August 19, 1923.

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Fernão Lopes -

Fernão Lopes, a Portuguese soldier (not the chronicler of the same name), joined forces with the Muslims in India. After being captured, he willingly chose to live in exile on Saint Helena, where he spent more than three decades in solitary confinement.

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Fernão Lopes -

When he could, Lopes decided to return to Portugal in order to reunite with his family. The king granted him a pardon and he subsequently traveled to Rome. There, Pope Clement VII absolved him of the sin of apostasy. Lopes expressed his desire to go back to his beloved island, where he eventually passed away in 1545.

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James Morrill -

In 1846, English sailor James Morrill was stranded off the coast of Australia. He managed to reach the mainland on a basic raft and resided with a group of Aboriginal Australians for 17 years.

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Poon Lim -

Poon Lim, a Chinese sailor, endured a dire experience in 1942 when the British cargo ship he sailed on was attacked by a Nazi U-boat in the South Atlantic. Stranded on a wooden raft, Lim remarkably survived for 133 days before being rescued off the coast of Brazil in 1943.

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Poon Lim -

This image shows a recreated representation of Poon Lim aboard a raft, specifically created for survival training by the US Navy. Lim's extraordinary tale is also included in the survival manuals of the Royal Navy.

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Philip Ashton -

Philip Ashton, a Massachusetts fisherman, was captured by pirate Edward Low near Nova Scotia and held captive for nine months. In March 1723, Ashton successfully escaped when they arrived on a small island off the coast of Honduras.

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Philip Ashton -

The island where Phillip Ashton sought refuge was Ruatán. There, he constructed a shelter and sustained himself with a diet consisting of fruits and raw turtle eggs. In June 1724, Ashton was rescued by a British vessel, leading him to subsequently pen an account recounting his time as a castaway.

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The Ross Sea party -

The goal of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was to leave a series of supplies across the Great Ice Barrier for a second group that would use the rations during the second leg of the expedition.

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The Ross Sea party -

However, the crew became stranded in January of 1915, and their situation deteriorated from that point onward. The survivors were not rescued until January 1917. Similarly, the second stage of the expedition did not go ahead as expected.

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Trans-Antarctic expedition -

In 1916, a group of 22 men under the leadership of Ernest Shackleton from the Trans-Antarctic expedition, found themselves stranded on Elephant Island, located off the Antarctic Peninsula, for a period of four months.

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Leendert Hasenbosch -

In 1725, Leendert Hasenbosch, a Dutch ship's officer, was sent to Ascension Island as punishment for sodomy. In 1726, British mariners discovered Hasenbosch's diary and took it back home. The diary was subsequently published as 'Sodomy Punish'd.'

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Otokichi -

Otokichi, a Japanese boy, faced a precarious journey at sea lasting 14 months until he arrived at Washington's Olympic Peninsula in 1834. Once there, he was captured by a Native tribe and subsequently handed over to John McLoughlin of the Hudson's Bay Company. Otokichi was later transported to Macau, where he began his tenure as a translator for the British. He later worked as a crewman in their service.

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Nakahama Manjirō -

As a young boy in 1841, Nakahama Manjirō, a Japanese samurai, found himself stranded on Torishima, an island in the Pacific. Fortunately, Manjirō was saved by an American vessel and brought to the United States. During his time there, he diligently learned English and navigation, ultimately playing a significant role in fostering a strong bond between the two nations.

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Jan Pelgrom de Bye and Wouter Loos -

In 1629, Dutch soldier Wouter Loos and cabin boy Jan Pelgrom de Bye van Bemel found themselves on board the Batavia (replica pictured)  when the ship was wrecked on Morning Reef near Beacon Island, off the Australian coast.

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Jan Pelgrom de Bye and Wouter Loos -

After some time, the survivors began to quarrel, resulting in a dreadful slaughter. Fortunately because they washed up on the Australian mainland, Jan Pelgrom and Wouter Loos survived longer. Regrettably though, the rescue party never ventured far enough south to save them.

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Mutiny on the Bounty -

The mutiny occurred on the HMS Bounty in April 1789 in the South Pacific Ocean. Nineteen crewmen were cast away, with some finding refuge in Tahiti and others on Pitcairn Island. A group remained hidden on Pitcairn until 1808.

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Jeannette expedition -

The objective of the 1879-1881 Jeannette expedition, under the guidance of George W. De Long, was to reach the North Pole via the Bering Strait. Unfortunately, the mission took a tragic turn. Trapped in polar ice for 16 months, only 13 out of the original crew of 33 managed to survive.

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The Tongan castaways -

In 1965, a group of young boys from a school managed to escape and steal a boat. Unfortunately, they were caught in a storm and stranded on the uninhabited island of ʻAta. Remarkably, these boys were able to survive for an impressive 15 months. This incredible story served as the inspiration for the well-known 1954 novel 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding.

Sources: (History) (Docastaway)

See also: The most suspenseful survival stories of all time

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