Hi
I am trying discover if a story I read is true. In the First World War, Gunther Pluschow, a prisoner of war, escaped from mainland Britain. His claim is that he climbed a cable from a buoy into the SS Prinses Juliana (I spell this in English as Princess). I want to know if this is actually possible? This means finding someone who knows about mooring buoys, cables, hawser design etc.
The ship I'm interested in is the SS Princess Juliana built 1909 on the Clyde. I believe it was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd for the M V Stoomvaart Mit, Zealand Vlissingen.
In July 1915, Pluschow wrote that he rowed out to this neutral Dutch mail ship, climbed the cable from the mooring buoy, and boarded the forecastle of this ship.
We have two accounts of it, one from his official report, the other from a subsequent, rather fanciful book. I start with the official version translated from German:-
"I scrambled cautiously to my mail steamer, Princess Juliana, climbed onto the buoy, gave the boat a kick, carefully boarded the steel line to the forecastle and happily got to the top undetected. Here I first stowed myself under the windlass, hiding my boots on the forecastle."
from the Official Report to the Imperial German Navy July 1915
"Then I climbed with iron composure—and this time like a cat—the mighty steel cable to the hawse. Cautiously I leaned my head over the rail and spied about. The forecastle was empty. I jerked myself upwards and stood on the deck."
from My Escape from Donington Hall, by Gunther Pluschow, published 1915-1916
My problem with this is the distances from the hawse to the top of the forecastle. Also, I'd assume the anchor is down, and thus the cable is merely attached to the anchor buoy. Ships hulls arc outwards, so looking at photos of this I conclude climbing aboard is quite difficult. He suggests he pulls himself onto the forecastle. That's 2.5 metres away from where his feet would be, at an angle, and he's leaning backwards. He's 5 ft 6, so he has to make one hell of a jump to get to the forecastle. Unless of course I'm misinterpreting or not understanding this properly?
If you search SS Prinses Juliana you'll see a preview in google of images of the ship in question. These are links to
https://www.wrecksite.eu/imgBrowser.aspx?13857 but the images there you have to pay for. It's the 1909 built version that is relevant here. In the image on google preview it will say on the top: 'Dayboat of Zeeland Steamer'
I wonder if anyone can assist me please and discover how he could climb the steel cable from the buoy, then get aboard.
Perhaps obtaining plans of this ship might help, but I doubt they'd exist after all this time would they? Where would I go to find them. Is the wreck off Felixstowe still in existence, and if so would the forecastle and hawser still be intact and visible?
I hope someone can help.