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Luftwaffe Rescue Buoy (Rettungsboje)

Did your Heinkel sinkel? Did you ditch your Dornier in the drink? Did your Junkers get sunkers? Did your Messerschmitt get shot to Messersh!+? Climb aboard, change into warm clothes, drink some brandy, light up a cigarette, turn on the beacon and exterior signal lights, play some cards, a board game or take a nap in a bunk and wait for a schnellboot or destroyer to come pick you up.

This is a "Rettungsboje", or rescue buoy used by the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. The British called them "Lobster Pots", while Germans typically referred to them as "Udet buoys" after the pilot Ernst Udet suggested that these be designed and constructed to save pilots from death or capture.

Forty of these were manufactured and anchored along the English Channel along commonly used flight paths used by German aircraft. The idea was to save as many trained and experienced aircrews as possible. Aircraft could be replaced far more easily than veteran pilots and crews.

In the event a pilot or crew had to ditch over the channel, they could attempt to put their damaged aircraft down close to one of these. Inside they would find dry clothes and blankets, beds, food, water and some liquor, cigarettes, board games and a place to wait for rescue by friendly forces.

These buoys would be checked frequently and any pilots or aircrew within would be extracted. The rescuing ship would then restock the food, clothes, blankets and anything else consumed by the rescued aircrews in order to stand ready to provide shelter again in the future.

The idea was noted by the allies and the British constructed a series of their own once the air campaign over occupied Europe began to unfold.


I built this with as much detail as Stormworks would allow- which isn't much. But, it was a fun, simple build and it at least DOES what the original did, if not being a dead-ringer in looks.

Its got some batteries to power lights, heat and a transponder beacon. I added some anachronistic solar cells on the roof to give the poor batteries a chance to charge up a little bit- but you need the sun almost DIRECTLY overhead.

The anchor is on a winch. It can't be moored in deep water because the winch seems to bottom out at about 75 feet.

It has severe stability problems if built exactly like the original. I added a keel made of wedges and weight blocks to allow it to be towed and climbed on without flopping over.

If you go inside its rather stable, but climbing out onto the deck makes it wallow quite a bit.

Subscribe and fix what you find wrong.

I have to give credit to "Randomthingsposted" on the XML ladder, without which this build wouldn't have been possible. Head over to his page and download it. While not a SMOOTH ladder to use, you can jump onto the rungs and it will get you up and down in a much more confined space than the default stairs.