Inside a WWII Rescue Buoy: Exploring the Last Secret "Floating Hotel"



Download and try Opera for free! That screenshot feature is the best: https://opr.as/Opera-browser-Calum

Last year, I made a video all about the “Rettungsboje” or Rescue buoys, a unique rescue craft designed to act as floating rescue stations for the lufftwaffe during WWII. What I didn’t realise was that one had survived – and so I went out looking for it.

Bunkermuseum Terschelling:
https://bunkersterschelling.nl

Gert’s Website:
https://gertkracht.nl

The amazing 3D Models by Brendon Kibler! Check him out: http://lumoize.artstation.com

One of Our Aircraft is Missing:
https://amzn.to/3QYcTZL

Some great info on the Rettungsboje
http://www.luftwaffe-zur-see.de/Seenot/Rettungsbojen.htm

Videos of Buoy Being Moved & Recovered:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqJh_Vzw9k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTfQvyTNYcY

00:00 – Intro
00:55 – Thanks Opera!
02:39 – Development of the “Lobster Pot”
04:11 – What Happened to the Rescue Buoys?
04:56 – A Surviving Buoy?
05:28 – Gert’s Story
07:53 – Almost Lost
08:09 – Saving the Rettungsboje!
10:09 – Visiting the Buoy!
11:24 – Lets Climb Inside!
14:29 – Meeting Martin & The Team
16:10 – Contribution from Daisy (the Dog)
16:16 – A Familiar Voice?
17:00 – Waffling on a Bit

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42 thoughts on “Inside a WWII Rescue Buoy: Exploring the Last Secret "Floating Hotel"”

  1. Seen your vid on the Scottish Maritime Museum. Nice you finally got a German one. Have you run into the movie not sure, but 2 Brits and 2 Germans caught together in one of these bouys, and it an age for them to get rescued and they left the others there to be picked up by there own blokes. It was a long time ago. You probably know already, but Down The Rabbit Hole also has a Luftwaffe Rescue Bouy| WWII Floating Hotels of the English…..! Nice goin m8 thanks, Keep up the good work, have a goo Christmas, and stay vertical Eh!

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  2. 0:11: 🌊 The video explores the last remains of the unusual relics of World War II – the floating rescue boys in the North Sea.
    3:15: 🚁 The video discusses the development of rescue buoys during wartime and their provisions for stranded airmen.
    6:09: 🏝️ The video discusses the details of a stranded boat and its missing parts on an island.
    9:32: 🌊 A World War II rescue boy, buried in sand for 70 years, is recovered and transformed into an accurate recreation at a museum.
    12:35: 🔍 The video showcases the claustrophobic living conditions in an old space and the remarkable restoration efforts.
    15:52: 🏛️ The video is about visiting a museum and learning about the dedication and work put into recovering and repairing historical artifacts.
    18:50: 🌊 The video explores the fascinating items that have washed ashore on the island, including parts of ships, guns, diving suits, and more, highlighting the island's history and culture.
    Summarized by TammyAIchat

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  3. This rescue buoy is quite the modern day Ship of Theseus. They pulled a slab of concrete with some rusty scrap metal attached out of the sand and are in the midst of reconstructing the rescue buoy in its original condition. 

    How much of the original steel is left? Maybe 20%? When this buoy restoration is completed, most everything of which it is composed outside of the concrete ballast will be new material.

    Now the original thought experiment states that the various components of Theseus's ship are replaced gradually as they rot over the course of centuries. After some time, all of the original wood has been replaced. Is it, at this point, still Theseus's ship? (And yes, philosophy majors, that is a gross oversimplification — please do not ruin your next customer's pumpkin spice latte over it.)

    I believe that the most commonly accepted argument amongst philosophers is that the new and the old coexist in the same space and time. Continuity. Essentially, as I understand it, it continues to be Theseus's ship because people continually identified it as his ship, and the individual material components of the ship are not what defines it as Theseus's ship. 

    So this buoy has been rotting away in the surf for the better part of a century. As pulled out of the sand, it is hardly recognizable. If, unlike Theseus's ship that was cared for over time, something is allowed to degrade to a point where it is no longer recognizable as that what it once was, does it cease to be that thing? Did at some point it cease to be the rescue buoy? And if you rebuild something from scraps of the original after it has ceased to be recognized as its original form, does that continuity of existence come back into being, or is it just a reproduction of the original?

    Let's take the simpler "Grandfather's axe". This version of the thought experiment boils it down to two components: the axe head and the axe handle. You inherit your grandfather's axe. After some time the axe handle breaks, so you replace it. After decades of sharpening, you replace the worn down axe head. You have replaced 100% of the components of your grandfather's axe. Is it still your grandfather's axe?

    Now let us say that your grandfather's neighbor, Ennis, borrowed his axe 50 years ago and conveniently forgot to give it back to your grandfather. Over time Ennis replaced the axe head and axe handle several times. He leaves the axe to his grandson who then decides to right his grandfather's thievery and return the axe to you, your grandfather's sole heir. It is presented to you as your grandfather's axe. You observe the stickers from the Ace Hardware down the street that was built ten years ago, but your grandfather died in 1978. Having gone out of your family for two generations and been forgotten, is this your grandfather's axe to YOU because someone whom you do not know says it is even though it is 100% composed of materials manufactured decades after your grandfather passed?

    A century from now technology may exist to bring up the RMS Titanic. Disregarding the ethical dilemma of disturbing a gravesite (very much an interesting matter of discussion in its own right), a century from now there will be very little left of the Titanic. Maybe the only thing that will be preserved in a century or two will be that which is buried in mud. So let's say that the keel of the forward portion of the wreck is preserved under the mud. It is brought to the surface via technology that we today would find indistinguishable from magic, and just as magically this insignificant portion of the once mighty Titanic is built upon so that the Titanic exists in duplicate of its original form in every exact detail. Is it arguable to say that after nothing of the Titanic shipwreck exists above the seafloor that people will say that Titanic no longer exists? And if it is declared to no longer exist, then will building upon this slither of what was once the Titanic bring the original back into existence? I think that this may be the best way to think on this rescue buoy. 

    Well, you have read all the way to the bottom of my comment. Congratulations. Please go have yourself a double-shot espresso Americano like those I have been drinking this morning, and then have three more of those for a total of eight shots of espresso followed by reading my comment again to appreciate how I felt as I was drafting this dissertation.

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  4. A very facinating subject, when you think about war which takes so many lives and this bouy was designed to save lives, especially how the germans were shown to be so mercilus to their own soldiers and citizens, constantly placed in harms Way its nice to see the reality

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  5. Nice work saving this piece.
    Seem like a intresting island to visit .
    It seems like patching the corroded steel and the holes, is next on the list ,(if interior is to to be recreated )
    Mayby building a new one and creating the interior in that is better and this would also keep the original buy more historically intact on the outsid e.

    Intresting video! good production quality!

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  6. Anyone else notice the very negatively distracting dog owner yelling at her poor dog to…. "Stop eating grass !! "
    If she was an educated, pet owner, she'd know that all cats and dogs, and even other animals, eat grass for their digestion.etc. !!!

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  7. I have seen at least one old B&W movie where people are aboard one of these buoys . What did they do for bilge pumps ? I've seen pumps that operate without external power . They would operate by the movement of the waves rocking the boat .

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  8. I can’t believe this video popped up! I first came to know about these rescue buoys a little over a year ago. And became fairly obsessed about these myself. I have no idea why ! But searched any and everything I could find. Anyway thank you so much. The best pictures and info. Thanks again

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