Sharks, Shipwreck and Survival

In November 1906, a 16 year old from Norwich called Harold Higgs, signed up for the adventure of a lifetime. He joined the merchant navy as an apprentice aboard the grand sailing vessel Carnarvon Castle, tasked with carrying a general cargo to far-off Australia. What should have been a routine first voyage turned into a nightmare of fire, shipwreck and a desperate battle to survive.

Almost a thousand miles from the nearest land, disaster struck: fire broke out and the crew were forced to abandon ship.

Harold was among the twenty-six men and boys, who along with their Captain, took to two open boats, with only the provisions they could snatch before the vessel went down. Within days, the boats became separated. For twenty-four days, Harold and the other men endured storms, starvation and desperate thirst. Vulnerable and alone in the midst of the vast Indian Ocean, enormous waves threatened to overturn the boats while sharks circled hungrily beneath.

Sharks, Shipwreck & Survival: Harold Higgs and the Sinking of the Carnarvon Castle, 1907 shines a light on this overlooked maritime disaster, while also examining early 20th-century seafaring and the resilience of the survivors in the face of great adversity.