John CarnemollaSix teens wanted an adventure and they ended up shipwrecked on a deserted island for 15 months. In 1965, a group of bored teenage boys snuck out of their boarding school in Tonga, hoping to sail all the way to Fiji or even New Zealand. Instead, a storm blew them hundreds of miles south to a deserted island. The boys seemed doomed. But, incredibly, the so-called Tongan castaways would survive on the remote island for next 15 months before their rescue. Though their story has been called the real Lord of the Flies, the boys experience was nothing like the famous novel. Unlike the fictional characters of the book, the six boys worked together and watched out for each other.This is the incredible survival story of the Tongan castaways: Luke Veikoso, Stephen Tevita Fatai Latu, Sione Fataua, David Tevita Siolaa, Kolo Fekitoa, and Mano Sione Filipe Totau.The Six Tongan Castaways Get Lost At SeaIn June 1965, six teenage boys between the ages of 13 and 18 stole a boat and set sail. Sione, Stephen, Kolo, David, Luke, and Mano were tired of their boarding school in Nukualofa, Tongas capital. They wanted adventure. I grew up in the little island of Haafeva, Mano, one of the older boys who took on a leadership role on the island, recalled to Vice in 2021. When I started to learn geography and history I looked at Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia, and they were all far, far bigger I wanted to see the wide world.Sione Filipe TotauMano Sione Filipe Totau as a young man.With bananas, coconuts, and a small gas burner, the boys sailed off into the night. Conditions were calm and clear. But after the boys fell asleep, a storm suddenly blew in. We didnt have the sense to pull down the sail, Mano recalled, so it got torn off in the wind.Suddenly the teens were adrift in the South Pacific with no rudder and no sails. They didnt have a map or compass, so it was impossible for them to know exactly where they were. For more than a week, they drifted.On the eighth day, the Tongan castaways spotted land, an uninhabited volcanic island called Ata. It would be their home for the next 15 months. The Harmony Of Life On The Island Of AtaAfter the Tongan castaways made their way to shore, they cried, said a prayer, and then fell asleep. The next morning, they set out to explore their new surroundings by climbing to the top of Atas volcanic crater. I stepped on a piece of wood, which was soaked wet, Mano remembered. I picked it up and broke it apart, bit by bit, and squeezed it in my hand then licked it with my mouth. It was the first drink Id had in eight days.Wikimedia CommonsAta Island, where the Tongan castaways were stranded for 15 months, as seen from above.The boys knew that they were in a dangerous situation, and they made a pact on their first day to take care of each other just like they had back on Tonga. According to reporting from the The Guardian in 2020, they started and ended each day with a song and a prayer, agreed to divide up chores and responsibilities, and, if anyone had a problem, to discuss it. Then, slowly, the Tongan castaways began to create a life for themselves.The castaways built a house covered in woven coconut fronds. They made beds out of banana leaves. Within the islands volcanic crater, they found the remnants of the islands former inhabitants, indigenous people who had been kidnapped as slaves and who had left behind wild taro, bananas, and feral chickens. The boys survived on fruits, fish, coconuts, birds, and seabird eggs, and finally gained enough of their strength back to build a fire. It took us three months to make a fire, Mano said, and it was the first hot meal that we had.John CarnemollaThe Tongan castaways reenacting what life was like on Ata.Though their story bears some resemblance to the Lord of the Flies, the Tongan castaways did not descend into the quarreling and violence of the books characters. Instead, they recreated their social bonds from back home. Everyone contributed to growing and preparing food. Everyone helped keep the fire alive. And the boys found productive ways to resolve disputes. We all come from close and poor families where, whatever you get, you share, Sione told PEOPLE in 2020. If anybody had something they didnt like, they talked about it and we say sorry and then pray and everythings okay. If someone got really mad like, if I planned something and they didnt do it you disappear for a few hours, look at the ocean and clear it out of your mind.But homesickness haunted the Tongan castaways, who had little hope of being rescued. I never really loved the island, Mano recalled. I always wanted to go back home to see my family.Then, a year later, a miracle happened. The Rescue Of The Tongan CastawaysIn September 1966, Australian Peter Warner was sailing in his fishing boat when he and his crew passed by Ata. Taking a closer look at the island through his binoculars, Warner saw patches of burned earth, which was odd, for an uninhabited island. Then, he saw something even more surprising: a boy.The boy spotted the boat, and then, suddenly, several of them appeared in the water. One made it quickly to Warners vessel and, scrambling onboard, he shouted a surprising story: My name is Stephen! There are six of us and we reckon weve been here 15 months.The Tongan castaways told Warner how theyd been stranded on the island, and Warner radioed Nukualofa to confirm their story. The shocked radio operator replied, You found them! These boys have been given up for dead. Funerals have been held. If its them, this is a miracle!Sione Filipe TotauPeter Warner and the Tongan castaways. After their rescue, he hired them to work on his lobster boat. Homecoming wasnt an entirely smooth process for the Tongan castaways, however. When they reached the capital, the boys were arrested because the owner of the boat theyd stolen 15 months earlier wanted to press charges. But Warner had a plan. He called up the manager of a TV station in Australia and offered to sell the rights to the boys story. Warner then used the money to repay the boat owner and get the boys released from jail, and the Tongan castaways subsequently filmed a reenactment of their time on the island. Warner, with the gratitude of the Tongan people, also then negotiated lobster fishing rights in Tongan waters and hired the boys as his crew. The Tongan castaways thus returned to normal life, and their story was more or less forgotten for several decades, although Warner wrote about it in his 2016 memoirs, Ocean of Light: 30 Years in Tonga and the Pacific. Then the Dutch historian Rutger Bregman expanded on the story in his 2020 book, Humankind, and the surviving Tongan castaways sold the film rights to their story to the studio New Regency that same year. And ultimately, though the Tongan castaways experience on Ata was a grueling experience, it was also incredibly valuable. John CarnemollaAta was an uninhabited island, but it had the remnants of an abandoned settlement that helped the castaways survive.When I think back to our time on the island, I realize we really learned a lot, Mano remarked of the experience. And when I compare it to what I gained at school, I think I learned more on the island I learned how to trust myself. I realize now that it doesnt matter who you are; it doesnt matter what color you are, what race, or anything like that. Because if youre in a real problem, you will eventually see what you need to do to survive.After reading about the Tongan castaways, discover the story of Mauro Morandi, the Italian Robinson Crusoe who lived alone on an uninhabited island for 32 years. Or, learn about Juana Maria, the woman who spent 18 years living alone on the Channel Islands near California after her tribe left.The post The Incredible Story Of The Tongan Castaways, The Teenage Boys Who Survived For 15 Months On An Uninhabited Island appeared first on All That's Interesting.