A rope dropped from the deck and was made fast by Vollmar in the bow.

The blindfolded crew were helped up the ladder which hung over the side and taken below forward.

Then came a sharp order: "All hands below"; and when the deck was deserted, Von Kessner and Vollmar went up the ladder and were met on deck by Oscar Oscarovitch in civilian dress.

There was another man beside him in the uniform of a lieutenant.

He slacked off the tackle falls of the davits under which the boat had brought up, dropped down the ladder and hooked them on.
When he got back to the deck the four men hauled first on one tackle and then on the other, till the boat was up flush with the deck.