The Sea Chase

While this story is fictional., the original story was based on a real-life similar incident that occurred in 1939. It involved the ten-year-old German-built steamer the Erlangen. The Erlanger's captain was Alfred Grams. The ship slipped out of Otago New Zealand on 8/28/39, It was thought she'd go to Port Kembla in New South Wales to get coal; instead, she headed for the Auckland Islands, restocked with food, and cut down a large number of trees from the Southern Rata forest. The Erlanger was able to avoid HMNZS Leander and eventually, using jury-rigged sails, made her across the Southern Pacific to Ancud In southern Chile. The ship eventually made its way to the South Atlantic, where she was intercepted by the HMS Newcastle off Montevideo, Uruguay, on 7/24/41, where she was scuttled by her crew.

When David Farrar talks about Ehrlich's course options, he says they can rule out the vast Pacific to the west and the Indian Ocean to the east. Sailing from Sydney Australia, the Pacific would be to the East and the Indian Ocean to the West.