'Between Scylla And Charybdis' :
After the majority of Port Resolution had been rebuilt, the construction of 'Scheer Stadt' was carried out in just enough time to avoid the worst of the 1941/1942 winter, although the crew found the Kerguelen diet rich in fish and edible seaweed a rather tough experience; the enterprising locals had made a wine or beer out of Laminaria Saccharine, the seaweed commonly called 'sugar wrack', looking and tasting a bit like a sherry. The German seamen tried it cautiously, justifiably suspicious, but some developed a taste for this local brew and one man - Wernher Groot - decided to see if he could improve it with his knowledge of German winemaking. His efforts were to make for a smoother brew that even the lower decks approved of and the Royal Navy ships on the Kerguelen Station wanted more of; the delighted locals suddenly discovered that they had something exportable that would bring income. At that point, the Germans started to be respected, if not yet liked; there was a war on, after all, the Marines and Home Guards had live rounds in their rifles and machine guns.
Royal Navy divers had managed to briefly descend to Admiral Scheer but at over 300 feet down the pocket battleship lay on its side and was too deep to salve, without more advanced technical knowledge. The news of this somehow percolated to Germany through diplomatic channels - the Swedish official acting as Protecting Power was involved - and Grossadmiral Raeder told Hitler. It seemed that Krancke had made sure that the fjord protected the secrets of the Reich, even if he was on parole as a 'trusty' Kriegsgefangener in British custody; it made his actions more palatable, prompting Hitler to order that Raeder conduct 'Projekt Schwein' - an attempt to extract at least one officer from Kerguelen. The Unterseeboote involved were primarily tasked with attacking British shipping in the Capetown area, but U-43 under Wolfgang Luth was tasked with 'Schwein' and in November 1941 moved into position near Kerguelen.
Kerguelen had expanded its forces slightly, as the Royal Navy realised it was a useful recce and ASW platform against commerce raiders and U-boats, the RAAF boosting its forces to four Catalina flying boats, five Ansons and ten Buffaloes, with six Swordfish torpedo bombers. They had not yet sunk any submarines, but had forced the Thor to move northwards into Indian waters, where it came to grief; the island of Kerguelen was an 'unsinkable aircraft carrier ' and a major nuisance to U-boat operations. A radar set installed on a spur of Mount Banks could reach a hundred miles out to detect aircraft, which was mostly useful for air traffic control, but also gave a decent thirty mile range detection of surfaced submarines and ships.
Unfortunately, the bulk of the Mountain shielded approaches from the South and West, which the Kriegsmarine found out and was to make use of; U-43 approached the southern coast of the main island and cautiously navigated the stormy seas until within a few miles of Murray's Isle, where it submerged and headed towards Molloy near where Scheerstadt had been constructed. Luth surfaced near a rocky cove and Oberleutnant zur See Hans Joachim Schwantke went ashore with two Matrosen in a rubber dinghy to reconnoitre whilst the submarine dived and moved offshore. Schwantke managed to approach the prisoner of war town in his ordinary uniform and was astonished to discover that the guards did not do more than nod him through. Vastly puzzled, he went to find Joseph Schultz, an old friend from happier days, finding him hanging out clothes he had been laundering.
"Du Lieber Gott!" Oberleutnant Schultz gasped. "Was machen sie hier?"
"I am here to find out what is going on." Schwantke explained, somewhat grimly. "And to take you home. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?"
"Naturlich." His old friend led Schwantke to the simple stone and corrugated iron shed he had as his berth. "Herr Kapitan Krancke will want you to take his report to the Kriegsmarine. We are on parole, but you are not. Krancke is a man worth following. I have here paper, a pen and ink."
Schwantke got a report out of Schultz that outlined all he knew of the action that had been the swan-song of the pocket battleship; it made disturbing reading, explaining the events leading up to the surrender of Krancke to the Governor, rather than the Royal Navy. Admiral Scheer was safely scuttled and the Brits only had AA guns and small arms from the surrender, but had given the Germans surprising liberty in exchange for a parole none expected to be broken. Then there was a discreet knock on the door; Schultz opened it and started, saluting his senior officer. Krancke returned the salute and came in.
"Oberleutnant Schwantke, Mein Herr." Schultz introduced his friend.
"At ease, Oberleutnant... Unterseeboote, ja?" Krancke was nothing if not quick-witted. "I have a report for the Grossadmiral, so I will let you take it. But you must not get caught by the Englanders."
"I was told to bring back an officer for questioning." Schwantke answered him; that did not go down well with Schultz or the two Obermaate who had followed their commanding officer inside, even if Krancke was willing.
"And have that officer court-martialled for saving his crew? Nein!" The senior of the two answered him. "Our Seamen's Council will not allow it!"
Hitler's response to the loss of Admiral Scheer had fatally angered the crew into supporting Krancke as he had saved their lives and negotiated access to the work and resources needed for their survival. The Royal Navy and the Australian Government had provided the bare minimum, but the prisoners of war had otherwise been forced to fend for themselves. The success of the seaweed wine had been matched by skilled rebuilding of wind turbines, the preparation of a fish, seaweed and Kerguelen Cabbage stew (nutritious but vile-tasting), some light engineering for civilians and organisation of various utility support services. Schwantke listened and recorded what they all told him, rather stunned; it seemed that the German crew had made themselves essential to the Britishers as a way of keeping alive and out of Royal Navy detention centres in Australia.
"The German Colony in Kerguelen." Franz Schiffert, one of the two Obermaat explained. "If the Fuhrer recognises our Herr Kapitan as the good man he is, we will be Kriegsmarine again. Verstehen?"
"... They have engineered freedom and made themselves indispensable." Schwantke reported. "They could take over the Colony as soon as the Englanders accept an Armistice. But they will only do so if there is an assurance that they will return to their families. I was refused permission to take any officer or seaman back to Germany. But I do have that detailed report from their Kapitan."
